Monster's Resurgence (Re-uploaded)
by AJR3333
Summary: It is said that those that wield great power will never find peace. For they are always sought after for who they are or the very power they wield. Then, there are beings that wield so much power that they were never meant to lose; never ALLOWED to be defeated. How else can one describe phantasmal forces of nature?
1. Chapter 1

Chapter 1

I do not own anything other than my original character(s) and my idea for this story's main direction.

Chapter One

The sun rose steadily and slowly from the east horizon, signifying a brand new day. Unfiltered sunlight poured in through the window and onto light-brown hair of a young lad, rousing him from his peaceful slumber.

_Sun, sun, Mr. Golden Sun, please just go away_, Takeru thought as he rolled his face into his pillow. He would've had a few more _choice _words for the aggravating light, if he knew what they even meant. His older brother had used them a few times before and whenever he was caught, he would say only _he _could get away with it because they weren't 'nice words' for little kids to be saying. What did that even mean?!

It was so weird for his brother to think that he was an adult when he wasn't that much older than Takeru at times. They couldn't have been that bad, right?

While he was busy cursing the sun but not really, he also wished that window of his still had curtains. Those had gone when Dad realized they made it easier to sleep in.

Not that it mattered anyway, because a hand or perhaps a foot began jostling him awake.

"Rise and shine, Takeru," commanded a voice, carrying the swagger and authority of an adult.

...and the timbre and pitch of a seventh-grader. So, naturally, Takeru ignored it, even when its owner began rattling him around.

"It's time for our morning exercises. Up 'n' at 'em!"

Takeru continued to persevere, even going as far as to shake off the offender and turn his body the other way with a grumble. The offender released a ominously calm breath.

"...Okay. Okay. If you wanna be that way, _fine. _I'll just go then_._"

Light footfalls could be heard as the offender walked further way. The low click of the door to his room was heard soon afterwards. Hushed inaudible murmurs could've been heard, could've not been heard, he didn't care.

Finally, he can be left to his nice, peaceful slumber. One point for Take-kun _wait a sec…_

_That wasn't __**his**_ _room, _Takeru thought as the sound of a fresh invader rushed in his direction, the fast padding of feet getting closer. His hand reached to his side table and groped and clawed for his glasses, but to no avail. Oh, _no._

"Morning, Takeruuu!"

_Fwump!_

"PUUWAAHH!"

Precious oxygen fled his lungs as a slightly smaller body crashed down on him. The familiar giggle of an excitable girl pierced the post-crash haze.

"It's time to get up, silly!"

"_Ugghhh… why… Inaho?_" Takeru groaned, his lungs still not at capacity.

"Because Zane-nii said he needed help waking you up and said that this was the only way." She lightly tapped his head a few times with her tiny index finger. "You need to get up, Take-chan."

_Oh, Inaho-chan, you're far too innocent_, Takeru thought, almost mournful at the thought of such a sweet little girl being manipulated by the down-right _evil _machinations of his brother. He turned to look at her, seeing how her big brown eyes shone ten times stronger than the sunlight pouring through his window. His poor little seven-year-old heartstrings couldn't take it.

_I gotta protect that innocence!_

"You shouldn't listen to him."

"Huh?" Inaho tilted her head, puzzled. "Why can't I listen to him?"

His head fell back onto his pillow. "He's not as nice as you'd think…"

"Don't you go saying that!" The initial invader came back into Takeru's room as both he and Inaho turned to look back at him. "She was more than eager to volunteer on her own. So don't go painting me as the bad guy just because you want to be lazy."

There he was, standing there at the threshold of his door with a slightly peeved look on his face. He had already gotten mostly dressed as he was clad in nothing but simple black shorts and a white short sleeve shirt. His bandaged hands were currently grasping the small towel he had wrapped around his neck. His usual short, spiked, messy black hair was mostly combed back except for a cluster that fell in front of his forehead as a single small, spiky cowlick. Compared to Takeru himself, his skin tone was a few tones darker; an _olive_ tone would be more accurate. His face was primarily the place with the most skin exposed, though that was because most of his other body parts were usually wrapped in thick bandages, particularly his chest, legs, and arms.

Whenever people saw them together, they never thought that they were actual brothers, for obvious reasons. Takeru couldn't blame them. They looked nothing alike and there was a reason for that. He and Zane _weren't _brothers, at least not by blood. Zane was an orphan that his mom found lying unconscious outside of an alleyway a year back, his body so battered and bloodied that she had to carry him to their house.

"Takeru! Zane! Inaho!" All three children turned their heads towards the hallway as from downstairs they heard the voice of Takeru's mother, Atsuma. "Come down and get yourselves some breakfast before we start your morning routines!"

"Sure thing, Mrs. Ooyam-!" Zane caught himself but it was too late.

"_What have I been telling you about addressing me so formally, young man?!_"

The instant response caused him to flinch a bit. "...To not to? I'm sorry, old habits die hard, Mom!"

"As long as you understand, dear!"

As her voice faded, Zane looked back towards his younger brother while Inaho skipped out of the room after giving both of them a smile before continuing down the hallway.

"Welp! You heard her, bro. Let's get goin'." He pushed himself from the doorframe and placed his hands behind his head, nonchalantly walking away.

Once he was out of sight, Takeru contemplated locking his door just to sleep some more.

"Seriously Takeru, I'm going to eat your portions if you don't hurry up."

_That _got him out of bed. Grabbing his glasses and putting on a pair of plain shorts, he rushed after his brother in a frustrated huff. "You'd better not!"

Body slams, sibling feuds, political intrigue, and all of it before breakfast. Just the average Sunday morning for the Ooyama family.

….

"Keep your hands up, Takeru. There should always be one arm ready to block whenever you throw a punch." Atsuma instructed as she watched over the children's' routines.

Takeru nodded and raised his fists a little higher before resuming his warm-up jabs. On his right, Inaho matched his pace with jabs of her own, constantly glancing back at him to see how he was doing. These opening exercises were pretty boring without something to hit, but as Takeru just learned, they were good for weeding out mistakes.

That didn't make him any less envious of Zane. The older boy had already blown through the piecemeal exercises of his own regimen and was now doing figure-eight kicks with a target dummy, balancing on one foot as he weaved the other one around the dummy's outstretched wooden arms. No one made _him _do all this boring prep work. No, he got straight into the kung fu fighting fancy-wavy stuff right away.

Takeru was always annoyed at that. He remembered the first time Zane tried to skip out on heating up his muscles before a session, and his mom had made a point of jumping him to show the merits of stretching out. Her plan didn't exactly work as Zane showed that stretches or no stretches, he had this annoying perk of not _needing _to warm up, of always being flexed and supple enough to throw down at a moment's notice. That didn't stop him from getting a ten-minute lesson in old school parenting after he made the mistake of taunting his instructor, but the fact he made it that long without cramping up or wearing out, at his age, was pretty nifty.

Takeru wished _he _had that perk, so he could escape this-

_Whack!_

"Ow! Mom!" Takeru whined, rubbing his head.

Atsuma raised the Paper Fan of Discipline from her son's noggin. "Don't you 'Ow, Mom' me," she chided playfully. "You and Inaho finish your exercises and then you can join Zane."

"All done with my jabs, Mrs. Ooyama!" said Inaho, raising her fist.

Takeru groaned. Now he was falling behind a dang _girl_.

"If you had kept your focus here and now," said Atsuma, using her evil Mom mind-reading powers on him, "you wouldn't have fallen behind."

"Faster, Takeru!" Inaho encouraged him, switching over to doing her side kicks. "Though I'm not gonna let you finish before me!" She flashed a challenging yet still good-natured smile his way.

He couldn't resist it in the end. He smiled back at the young girl. _I can't stay mad at her._

"_Hrraah!_" Takeru glanced towards his brother once more, spotting him throwing in one final right cross into the wooden post. It gave a resounding _crack! _as his fist punched into the now splintered surface. He pulled his bandaged fist out of the indentation with a winced grin. He then shook his fist as he inhaled through his clenched teeth before unclenching his fist and exhaling.

If it wasn't for the fact that Takeru was directly paying attention to him, he might've missed what came out of Zane's mouth. As it was, he did hear him speak under his breath, something along the lines of "getting better at it" and "still fucking hurts though". He was lucky that Mom didn't catch that last part.

"Zane!" Atsuma called over to her other son. "Would you please refrain from damaging the equipment _again?_"

Sheepishly, Zane answered back, "Sorry! I just can't help myself sometimes."

"Sometimes?"

"...Okay, it happens a lot."

Takeshi, whom had been sitting off at the side, decided to chime in. "It's good to see you learning so quickly, Zane. But, I'll be honest..." He paused as he peered at the boy with a more critical eye. "That last strike was sloppy."

"Huuh?!" Takeru heard the surprised response from Zane. "What are you talking about, old man? I followed every motion _exactly _how you showed me." There was a hint of frustration in his voice. Takeshi walked up him and spoke to him some more, but the words were lost to Takeru.

He wasn't always the brightest when it came to reading others, but even he could tell that something was wrong with-

_Whack!_

"Ow! I'm sorry!" Takeru rubbed his noggin once again from the wrath of the paper fan.

"You need to stop getting distracted, Takeru." Atsuma stood in front of him, eyebrows arched in curiosity.

Takeshi's voice reached them again. "Let me see your arm, Zane." Atsuma peered over towards her husband as their conversation peaked again.

"Why? It's fine, look."

Takeru and Inaho turned to watch the interaction as well. Zane had brought his bandaged right arm into view. He twisted it around, showing the older man every side of the wrapped limb.

Having a better look, Takeru definitely saw what was wrong now, from how slowly Zane's first three fingers were uncurling from a fist.

"See? Totally fine!" Zane said with an obviously strained smile.

Takeshi arched a brow, clearly skeptical, "Uh-huh. So you wouldn't mind if I did… this!" In a flash of movement he _lightly_ flicked a single finger against the boy's wrist.

Zane cried out and clutched his wrist, then quickly let go and winced in further pain.

Takeshi confirmed it, "Like I said, sloppy." He sighed a bit to himself as he kneeled down and placed a hand on the boy's shoulder, bringing his attention back on the parent as he cradled his arm, "You may have a lot of potential, Zane, but you're still lacking discipline and restraint."

Zane appeared quizzical, "Restraint?" he then frowned, "What's the point of holding back if the main objective of a fight is to win?"

"True. Winning is important when you fight, _but_, one should first learn not to lose themselves in it. Otherwise," he gestured to Zane's cradled arm, along with the rest of his bandaged limbs, "they'll stop caring about hurting themselves in the process."

"I broke the dummy, didn't I?"

Takeshi nodded. "Also true. But one day, you might take this sloppy form of yours and punch something that's as stubborn as you are." He shook Zane's tenderized hand, causing the boy to whine in protest. "That kind of mistake will cost you more than a hurt wrist and some jammed fingers."

Takeru kept watching as he said, "Mom, is that what happens if I don't punch right? You know, keep the wrist strong and the fist angled?"

He heard a sigh, the kind of sigh his mom made whenever she'd been trying to get through to him, then heard her whispering something. To Inaho. He turned to them, wondering what kind of girl stuff they were talking about.

"WAH!" Takeru ducked as Inaho came flying at him with an outstretched fist rocketing towards his face. He stumbled back and evaded the follow-up kick, but Inaho stayed on him like a clingy spouse.

"Spar with me, Takeru!" she said, spinning another kick at his head.

"Find out for yourself," his mom called as Inaho forced him to give ground, "and _stay focused _next time! Inaho's got enough energy for the both of you."

He could see that! Blocking a jab, he thrust a palm out and caught Inaho in the right shoulder. However, he had the unfortunate timing of landing it right as Inaho threw a left hook, which only added to her momentum, meaning Inaho couldn't pull her punch in time.

_Pow!_

"Oh my gosh! Takeru, I'm so sorry!" Inaho apologized profusely as he laid on his back, holding his bruised cheek.

It hurt so much! Tears of pain threatened to fall from his eyes, but he gave her a shaky thumbs up. It was mostly an attempt to keep his pride intact.

"It-_khh! _Don't worry about me," he said, flashing her a ramshackle smile. "My head's as hard as a rock."

As the girl helped him up he looked towards his mom. "Can I stop for today?"

Atsuma shook her head lightly with a sigh. "Go ahead, dear. But, expect a longer session tomorrow to make up for your slacking today. Understand?"

"Yes, Mom!" By now he was already walking out of the dojo and into the house portion of the residence, though he did still hear his other family members talking before he went out of earshot.

"Alright. Since you've lost your _initial_ partner, Inaho, we'll just have you return to normal exercises until Zane gets his hand fixed up."

"I don't want to spar with her, Mom," came Zane's reluctant response. "I think I'd rather do that _boring _meditation thing that Dad suggested I start doing."

"Krmf!" Atsuma released a restrained laugh. "Where did this come from? You're usually so eager to spar with one of us."

"_Mmm…_ Let's just say she grabbed me the wrong way once and leave it at that."

Their voices faded out of Takeru's hearing range as he entered the kitchen to grab himself an ice pack from the fridge.

Being a small, family owned dojo that it was meant that their house was decently large. It was big enough to act as a normal-ish house while the other portion of it acted as the actual dojo. Convenient though it may be, it became a bit of a consistent routine to hear sounds of exertion and loud impacts of struck wooden dummies or sandbags late into some nights. The young boy assumed that it was just his restless older brother.

Zane did say once that he found it hard to sleep some nights. Takeru just thought that he didn't sleep because of nightmares or something. It would make perfect sense, given how insistent Zane was to _not _tell Takeru about it.

Taking a water bottle out of the fridge before closing it, he walked upstairs to his room to get changed out of his training gi. Taking a swig of the cold refreshment before placing the ice pack back on his cheek, he thought about how glad he was to get out of morning exercises and relax again. Though, _Mom's not gonna take it easy on me during the next training session_.

He grabbed his Game Boy Advance out from under his bed, checked to make sure _Pokemon Mystery Dungeon: Red Rescue Team_ was still slotted in, and started playing. He then laid back against his pillow with his game above him, the familiar iconic 'starting up' tone chiming as he flipped the 'on' switch.

But, for right now, he'll let himself relax for the rest of the day and let tomorrow's worries go to the tomorrow's him.

….

_["...In other news, World Famous Physician, Dr. Akihito Nijou, has last been expected to be arriving in Hagi from the United States tomorrow evening. Expect heavy traffic on the main roads going towards the main airport. For those who want to get his autograph, it would be best to get there as early as possible to beat the morning rush!"]_

Waking up from his short three-hour nap after playing his little game for a bit, Takeru came out of his room and went downstairs to veg out on the couch when he saw Zane, Inaho, and his father already sitting on the couch in front of the large television.

They have apparently been watching the news at the time. There was a groan that came out of Zane as he flopped back against the armrest, seeming depressed and exhausted.

"_Uugghh…_ Looks like it's coming to that time again…" He mumbled as his head was tilted back far enough on the armrest to be staring at the wall upside down.

As Takeru took a seat between him and Inaho. The girl took that moment to flop herself across his lap, her stomach weighted down his legs and further into the cushion of the couch. He felt a hand ruffling his hair and he looked to his right side to his father smiling at him before addressing his angsty older brother.

"Well, you know how your current arrangements with the good doctor are. Plus, it's only a monthly examination, it's no _too _much of a pain."

"Yeah," Zane heaved another long-suffering sigh, "But they take _sooo looong_! I've already had enough of that weird 'hospital smell'."

"See?" Takeshi grinned, nudging the boy's leg. "You're so used to it you won't even smell it this time!"

The boy snorted, probably rolling his eyes as well. "You can only say that because you're not the one that has to go every month…"

"What was that, son?"

"...nothing, Dad."

"That's what I thought."

"One of these days, that snark of yours is gonna land you in world of hurt, Zane," Atsuma said as she walked in. Playfully flicking Zane in the forehead as she walked by, she sat down on the other side of her husband at the opposite end of the couch. She leaned her head against Takeshi's shoulder and released a content sigh.

He placed an arm around her shoulders and pulled her close. "Dinner's almost ready, I take it?"

She looked up at him with a smile before looking back at the TV. "I have it simmering right now. It should be done within the next hour-and-a-half."

"Alright then." Takeshi looked towards the kids. "What do you kids want to watch in the meantime, hm?"

"Animal Planet!" came Inaho's excited response.

"Discovery Channel?" Takeru said, a little unsure about his own choice.

"Toonami," Zane said simply.

"No to that last one."

"_Hah?!_" Zane lurched up from his awkwardly slumped position against the armrest, looking towards Atsuma with a puzzled expression. "Why not?"

"Because I've _seen _some of the those cartoons you watch, young man." She answered back almost instantly. "Shows like those are just full of mindless violence that'll rot your brain."

"Exactly," Takeshi said, nodding in agreement as he began browsing the channels. "Oo! _The Octagon_! Classic Chuck Norris!"

"Takeshi, what did we just tell them?" Atsuma protested.

"This isn't mindless violence," Takeshi countered. "It's smooth, artful, technical fighting, executed by a black belt in seven different martial arts!"

He thrust his hand at the TV. "It's _educational _violence."

A snorted snicker came out of Zane. "You're such a goof at times, old man."

"Oi," Takeshi said pointedly, "I take that statement with pride, you know. No child likes a boring dad."

Atsuma placed a hand on her face in exasperation, though, she still had a small smile on her face. "You boys are gonna be the death of me, I swear."

She looked at Takeshi. "By the way, dear, it was only six."

"Hm?"

"Six black belt ranks, in karate, Tang Soo Do, Brazilian jiu jitsu, judo, taekwondo, and Chun Kuk Do," Atsuma said, looking back at the TV as she watched bright red paint explode from a diplomat's chest, courtesy of a gun-toting transvestite nanny. "Even then, he only achieved top status in the style he invented." She pointed a finger at the screen with a grimace. "Is it really okay for them to watch this?"

"Oh, it'll ease off on the gore as it goes." Takeshi kissed her on the forehead. "You're amazing, by the way."

Atsuma looped a hand around her husband's cheek. "I'm well aware."

Takeru's tongue hung from his open mouth; he looked ready to dry heave at any moment. Zane only shook his head.

"Careful, Takeru," his father said. "If a fly gets in there, you might choke and miss the movie."

"Or the rest of that kissy stuff," Takeru wheezed.

Atsuma left shortly after to check on dinner. While his adopted mother left, and his two siblings sat hypnotized before the boob tube, Zane recalled what his father had told him earlier today, about his strikes being sloppy. The thought kept nagging at him, frustrating him. What had he been doing wrong? Any amount of power to wreck a thick piece of wood _had _to be executed well, right? Crazy thought: maybe he'd find the answer in this smooth, artful, technical display of educational violence his father seemed so high about.

It was around the time when Chuck Norris wildly waved a sword at his kama-wielding half-brother that Zane had his epiphany.

"This movie is trash!" he declared, standing up off the couch.

Takeshi watched him storm towards the kitchen. "But at least it's not garbage!" he called.

"Seriously, Dad?" Zane glowered at him. "That's an hour and a half I'm never getting back."

Inaho spoke up, eyes still glued to the screen. "This movie's funny!"

"See?" Takeshi pointed out, patting the girl's head. "Little Ina-chan likes it."

"That doesn't count," Zane said with a half-lidded gaze. "Inaho thinks that a lot of things are funny."

"Dinner's ready!" Atsuma called from the kitchen.

"Just in time," Takeshi grunted, leaning himself off the couch and up to his feet. He fixed his gaze on the TV as the evil half-brother rushed Norris from behind with his twin kama.

The lady of the film gasped, as did Inaho. "Oh no!"

"Give it a second," Takeshi said with a grin. In a moment pregnant with peril, the hero and villain separated, but when it passed, only the hero remained on his feet. The villain sank to the ground, the camera zoomed out, and the credits started to roll.

Takeshi looked to his son. "You catch Seikura's fatal mistake?"

Zane scoffed and entered the kitchen, leaving his father to shake his head. "Guess not."

"Whatever." Zane waved him off, "We're watching _Who Framed Roger Rabbit _next time. Your choice in movies is just bad, Dad."

"_Who Framed Roger Rabbit_?" He raised his brow at Zane suggestively, "And what reason would you want to watch that movie, _specifically_?"

The boy quickly turned away from him. "I just like it."

As Takeru sat next to Zane at the kitchen table, he could see a slight redness enter the cheeks of his brother's face.

Confused, Takeru looked towards his dad for some sort of confirmation, "I don't get it."

Before Takeshi could answer, Atsuma slapped her hand over his mouth. "You'll understand when you're older, dear." She threw a quick glare at the man, only for him to throw arms up in half-hearted surrender.

Takeru folded his arms and pouted. He was starting to get sick of his parents always treating him like a baby. He was 7 years old, for crying out loud!

It was then that an array of smells assaulted his nose. The matron of the house had set the family's meal down on the table. It looked _soo goood_!

A few bowls of pure white, steamy, puffy rice along with the thin, tender slices of beef and chicken. Not to mention the thick strings of lo mein noodles!

The vegetables looked… _alright_.

_Ugh, peas… I hate peas._ Takeru subtly (well, as subtle as a 7 year old can be) flicked the little green pests off of his plate to preserve the purity of his meal. His young eyes veered over the rest of his family, seeing his mom and dad conversate with Inaho about something he didn't much pay attention to. Then there was his older brother.

He seemed to be deep in thought about something as he idly dipped his chopsticks into his food, all while staring off into space with his chin resting against his other hand and a distant, focused look in his eyes. He didn't even seem to taste it, bringing it to his mouth with the same enthusiasm he had for working a calculator.

Takeru went back to eating his food soon enough, without further complaint (since he already took care of the little green abominations). Whatever it was that was on the other boy's mind, he was sure it would solve itself eventually, right?

….

Night had long since descended upon the town of Hagi, so most denizens had long since gone to sleep. The only ones that could still be awake at this ungodly hour were the ones that slept during the day and worked through the night.

Takeru's eyes peeled open slightly as his own body forced him awake for one singular, pesky need.

_...Thirsty… _Since his brain was only running on three hours of sleep, his movements and thought processes were sluggish. Sliding out of bed with the grace of an obese walrus, he would've fallen on his face if his memory of gravity hadn't kicked in and so had him laying on his legs, stomach, and forearms. He was glad that it was soft carpet instead of hardwood.

Taking a few seconds to orientate himself and grab his glasses off the nightstand, he waddled his way through the darkened hallway and down the stairs towards his ultimate destination: the kitchen.

After taking a nice, cool, refreshing drink of ice-cold water Takeru went to refill his cup from the tap when he heard a repeated, muffled thumping noises coming from from the far wall.

Investigating further, he went up to it and pressed his ear against the surface. The thumping continued on the other side.

_What is that?_ _Oh, yeah…_ With a tired mind Takeru almost forgot that the family dojo was on the other side of the wall he was leaning against.

_Who could be up this late in the night? Mom wouldn't want anyone to be up this late unless it was her or Dad._

Moving towards the sliding door that connected their home to the dojo and passing through the area where they would leave their outdoor shoes, he suddenly heard a loud _Slam! Crack! _which was immediately followed by a _Thud! _and a pained shout of, "FUCK!"

Takeru knew that voice. With a little more haste in his walk, he opened the final sliding door to the main hall. His eyes bored into the lone, prone figure in the center of the room. A heavily damaged wooden dummy lay in front of him.

"What are you still doing up, Nii-san?" Takeru's tired eyes glazed over the mess of wooden shrapnel that (most likely) came from the broken and twisted wooden post. Upon closer inspection, he could see that small splotches of blood stained the sweat-soaked bandages on his arms and legs.

Apparently, Zane had also been training in nothing but his shorts, because Takeru could see some of the bandages wrapped around his torso were beginning to fall off. He sat on his knees, hunched over as he clutched his right wrist. Just like earlier in the day, the fingers struggled to curl back into a proper fist.

It also appeared to Takeru that his first words were not heard since Zane didn't seem to acknowledge his presence. He continued to huff with frustration and exhaustion until he suddenly slammed his other fist against the floor, the wooden boards rattled slightly from the impact.

"_THIS IS STUPID!_" Zane yelled. The amount of raw _venom_ in his voice was enough to startle Takeru out of his drowsy state. The tanned firecracker continued to glare harshly at the broken wood scattered across the floor in front of him before turning his angry eyes to his busted, bloody hand. "No matter what I do, it all _always_ ends up the same way! _Damn it_!"

He shut his eyes tightly as a glimpse of tears threatened to fall. "_Why do you give such worthless advice, Dad_?"

His last words almost didn't reach Takeru's ears if it wasn't for the fact that the room was mostly empty.

"Mom's going to be _so_ mad when she finds out you broke one of the practice dummies."

Like a cracked whip, Zane's head turned towards Takeru with wide eyes. In a rush, he stood up on his battered legs, stumbling a bit in the process. Using his good arm, he went to wipe his eyes in an attempt to hide his frustrated tears. "Wha… what're you still doing up, Takeru? It's hard enough trying to get you up in the morning as it is."

Takeru shrugged, saying simply, "I was thirsty."

"Oh, well..." Zane trailed off, unsure of what to say while scratching the back of his scalp with his good hand. "You should go back to bed."

"But… what're you doing up, yourself?"

"Don't worry about it, Takeru." He waved his little brother off, sighing, "You wouldn't understand."

Takeru's lips scrunched up into a childish pout. "It's really annoying how everyone keeps telling me that. I'm not stupid, I _want _to understand."

Zane shook his head. "You're… _ughh_… too young. That's it." His finger rose as if clarity struck him. "Too young to understand."

The younger sibling frowned at his brother. "But you're older than me and you don't seem to get it, either. Plus, you need to rest." Takeru gestured to Zane's battered body. "It's why you're so grumpy now, right?"

"Uh…" Zane was so taken back by the rebuttal that he couldn't really respond. All he did was growl and grumble before letting out a resigned sigh. Honestly, he was far too exhausted to argue at such an ungodly hour.

Plus, his own frustration had already left him mentally spent. He was going to say something stupid if this kept up.

So Zane conceded, "_Alright_, alright." He rubbed his throat as he just now began feeling how dry and scratchy it was. Just how dehydrated had he let himself become?

"Here." Takeru offered the glass of water that he still had. He was still pouting though.

After a few moments, Zane's lips tweaked a bit into a small smile. _You're good by me, Takeru_. Several refreshing gulps later, Zane placed his hand on Takeru's head, ruffling his brown hair before handing back the glass.

"Thanks for that, little brother. Let's get back to bed, yeah?" he said, before ushering Takeru out of the dojo.

Takeru couldn't help but turn his head back to the mangled wreck and scattering of wood chips that _used_ to be a practice dummy.

"Mom's going to flip when she sees that."

Zane shrugged. "Eh, I'll clean it up before she wakes up. It'll be like nothing ever happened." He was far too tired to deal with it right now anyway; he'd bite the bullet if it came.

And boy did it ever.

….

...

**AN: Whew! First chapter COMPLETE overhaul complete! **

**If it wasn't for Ikrani and his **_**critical **_**and **_**insightful **_**reviews, I wouldn't have figured out what was crucially wrong with my original story. I **_**knew **_**something was wrong with it, it's just that I couldn't figure out what it was exactly. As a creator, you'll always need outside input, otherwise, you'll never be truly satisfied with the outcome.**

**I can safely say that under Ikrani's tutelage, I'll be truly satisfied with what comes out. I also recommend that you read his other works, **_**Sekirei: Fear of the Dark**_ **and **_**In the Footprints of Father Time**_**. **

**The man is a literary madman* when it comes to storytelling and character development. He knows his stuff. I deeply appreciate his help and the fact he was able to put up with my sluggish pace..**

***Beta note: And let NO LIVING MORTAL FORGET IT!**

**Until next time.**


	2. Chapter 2

Chapter 2

I do not own anything but my original character(s) and my idea for the story's main direction.

Chapter Two

Driving from the countryside was the modest Amaya family. At sixty-five miles-an-hour towards their sweet little hometown of Hagi, all four windows rolled down allowed a nice summer breeze to flow through the car and provide a very pleasant ride. As the head of the family kept most of his attention on the road, his eyes would occasionally glance at his bouncing eight-year-old daughter in the rear view mirror.

Mr. Amaya looked towards his wife in the passenger seat with a gentle smile, which she returned. He then nodded his head towards their only child. The mother giggled into her hand before turning to address the little girl in the back seat.

"Hey, honey!" The little girl turned from the passing scenery to look at her mom. "Glad to see you awake. It'll be a couple more hours before we're home, okay?"

Haruko nodded eagerly, smiling widely with eyes shimmering with pure innocence. She pounded her small feet against the her seat in time with the song stuck in her head.

Her mood couldn't possibly get any better! After being out of town with distant relatives for a month and a half, she was going to be seeing only her best friends in the world!

Her gaze drifted back towards the passing landscape, thoughts filling her mind of the two boys she enjoyed being around the most. _Taki, Zane… I wonder how your summer is going right now._

….

"Stop spamming your strong attack!" Takeru yelled in agitation as he frantically zipped his thumbs over his controller, all in a panicked attempt to get his character away from his opponent.

"How's about you stop running away and ACCEPT THE INEVITABLE!" Zane laughed maniacally as gave chase, throwing heavy attacks and Falcon Kicks every time he got close.

Although, his efforts were hampered by divided attention. While Takeru moved to evade him, _he_ had to move across the couch to evade a peeved Inaho constantly lightly punching his arm.

"Stop being such a bully, Zane nii-sama!" She punched his arm some more, causing Zane to almost drop his controller.

"Stop hitting me! It's just a game, Inaho!" He had to use one of his hands to force her away by her face, though her limp swings at him didn't stop. "If he's going to finally win against me, he's gotta do it on his own, without help!"

"Bwuy bwun't bwet you bwully Twake-kwun!" She tried to yell but most of it was muffled by the older boy's palm.

Unfortunately, because he had one hand on his controller and most of his attention on the irate girl, he didn't notice Takeru's character charging back for a counterattack.

"Finally, a chance!" Pressing a combination of buttons on his controller, he watched as his character slashed at Zane's in rapid succession.

Upon seeing the upset, Zane shoved Inaho back onto the couch before re-taking his controller with both hands. "No-no-no!" He slammed multiple buttons in an almost desperate attempt to gain the upperhand once more.

Inaho grinned cheekily as she watched her continued sabotage pay off. She thought of Zane like an older brother, but even she liked to play favorites. She was Team Take-kun for life.

Unfortunately for Takeru, in all of his excitement, he accidentally pressed the wrong button which then caused him to whiff his finishing attack. Dread filled his features as he rushed to correct his mistake, but it was already too late.

"YES!" Recovering within the split second reprieve, Zane's character uppercutted the sword-wielding hero and launched him off the platform. Though, it wasn't far enough.

"Don't try it," Zane said, already knowing what his younger brother would attempt.

"Come on, come on, come on!" Takeru repeated the mantra as he willed his falling character back towards the platform.

That was, of course, until the opponent leaped at his hopeless, tumbling form. Takeru's defeat was further signified by his opponent's all-too-familiar signature call-out, their body covered in light and flames.

[_"Falcon…"_]

"No-!"

[_"PUUNCH!"_]

[_"YAAAH!"_]

Upon impact, the _Hero of Time _was instantly launched so far off screen that an explosion effect popped up, along with a final scream from the fallen hero.

[_**"GAME! Winner: Captain Falcon!"**_]

"Awww…" Inaho sat dejectedly as Takeru lost another match of _Smash Bros_. He'd gotten so close this time, too!

"Whoo! Still _UNDEFEATED_!" Zane pumped his arms in the air, grinning like a madman.

Takeru held his face in his hands, completely defeated as his controller lay on the floor at his feet. This was his fourth loss! He already tried fighting with Mario, Fox, and Ness while Zane kept choosing Captain Falcon.

Lifting his head, his disgruntled feelings were plain to see. "I hate playing games with you. You always choose the _broken_ character!"

"Ah, don't be such a sore loser, little bro." Smirking smugly, Zane crossed his arms behind his head, "There's a _very_ simple way to win. You know what that is?"

Takeru's eyes became half-lidded, already knowing what was coming next, "Get go-"

"Get good!" Zane interrupted anyways as his smug smile grew larger. From Inaho's point of view, it was hard to see Zane as a "positive older brother" role model in this instance.

That smugness vanished instantly as a large hand chopped down onto his skull with enough force to send a shudder from his head downwards.

"No one likes a sore winner, Zane." Takeshi pulled his hand back as the boy placed both of his hands on his head to nurse the steaming bump on his head.

"_Khhh…"_

Takeru perked up upon seeing his father, the man looked to be in his slacks and buttoned shirt. "I thought you had left already."

Takeshi had sat down between his two sons before grabbing the controller off the floor. "I was about to leave, until work called and told me that I can have the day off."

After having recovered from the disciplinary blow to his cranium, Zane raised a brow at the man quizzically, "What're you doing?"

"What're you talking about, son?"

Zane gestured to the controller in his hands, "You picked up the controller. I guess you want to play, too." A smug smirk formed on his face. "Are you sure you want to challenge me? You think you can beat…"

He finished with both of his arms pumped into the air with his thumbs pointed towards himself, a cheeky grin re-plastered on his face. "The _Champion of Smash?!_"

Takeshi smirked towards the cocky young lad, an ominous gleam in his eye. "Oh, I don't _think _I can."

Inaho looked genuinely surprised. "I didn't know you played video games, too, Mister Oyama!"

The father of the house chuckled as he reached over to pat her head a couple times, causing her to giggle from the affection.

"Don't forget, my generation _invented _video games. It would be an insult to my pride as a man if I wasn't at least _half _decent at them." He scrolled through the different Nintendo characters on the screen and smirking upon finding the _perfect _character, "Plus, I was quite the frequent arcade goer when I was a teen."

[_**"KIRBY!"**_]

"Kirby?!" Zane looked completely flabbergasted by the older man's choice in fighters. "You do know that you'll have a better chance with literally _anyone else_, right?" He then chose his go-to.

[_**"CAPTAIN FALCON!"**_]

"_Awww_! Kirby looks so cute, though." Inaho, ever the one to fall for innocence, couldn't help but coo at the cute pink ball on the TV.

Zane was quick to make a response to that as they waited for the loading screen to end. "Yeah, sure he's kinda cute. But, _ehh_… he's a pretty weak character. Only a few people _actually_ know how to use him."

"Oh…" Inaho peered over at Mr. Oyama, only to find the man winking at her with a small smirk and a finger to his lips in a _shushing_ gesture. She covered her mouth as she giggled, getting a weird look from Zane.

The young man looked at his foster father with suspicious eyes, only to find the man calmly waiting for the game to start as well. He let his suspicion drop. "It's not too late to go back and change characters, you know. We can pause it at any time and go back to character selection."

"Nah, this'll be fine." Takeshi shook his arms to loosen up before rolling up his sleeves up to his elbow.

[_**"THREE! TWO! ONE!"**_]

It was game time.

[_**"GO!"**_]

_30 minutes later..._

[_**"GAME! Winner: KIRBY!"**_]

Takeshi blew on his knuckles before rubbing them against his shirt. "And there you have it." His eyes glanced towards his defeated champion.

With his controller at his feet, his hands clawed through his short spiky hair as his face was locked into an expression of dumbfoundment.

"Don't take it too hard, Zane," Takeshi said, gripping his boy on the shoulder. "When you've been married for a few years, you get good at pushing buttons."

Zane turned towards his foster father, his expression slowly morphing into one of anger, more so as he grasped the pun. He slapped the hand away from him, causing the older man to frown in concern.

"You tricked me!" Zane yelled.

Takeshi put the controller down. "In what way?"

"You never said you were good!"

"I never said I _wasn't_," Takeshi replied.

"Well you should've told me!" Zane snapped.

"Would that have affected your choice of fighter?"

Zane scowled and studied the carpet. "..._Yes._"

"Really!" exclaimed Takeshi, sounding completely convinced as he picked up his controller. "I thought Captain Falcon was your guy. Let's go again, this time no holds barred."

Zane stood up in a huff. "Let's not," he huffed, before storming off.

Takeshi shook his head softly. "That boy…" He turned his attention to the two other children, who seemed to be a little distraught by Zane's outburst.

"Mr. Oyama, is Zane-nii going to be okay?" Inaho asked nervously. "I've never seen him this mad before."

"Oh, I wouldn't worry too much about it." Takeshi patted her on the head. "Zane just has a strong competitive spirit is all. Just let him cool off for a while."

Takeru nodded his taking one more glance in the direction his older brother stormed off to. "If you say so, Dad."

"Let's watch some TV for a bit, yeah?" Takeshi suggested as he had already grabbed the remote to switch channels.

Conveniently (at least for Inaho), Animal Planet was the first channel that popped on after they switched off of the game. They had just caught up to the narrator explaining how lionesses did the hunting.

"OO! Big kitty!" Inaho exclaimed happily.

Takeshi chuckled quietly. The girl's fascination with felines was adorable.

_Ding-Dong~!_

His attention was diverted when he heard the doorbell ring. He looked at his watch, blinking as realisation hit him. "Almost forgot he was supposed to drop by today." Getting up from the couch, Takeshi walked towards the front door.

The handle squeaking as he opened it, he was greeted with the sight he mostly anticipated.

"Ah! How've you been, Akihito?" Takeshi greeted the other man. "Punctual like always."

"Hello Takeshi." Standing a full foot taller than himself, Akihito stoically replied. "Punctuality is key to my reputation. Otherwise, no one would take me seriously."

"Right, right. Zane, get ready to leave! Dr. Nijou is here to pick you up!" Takeshi called out as he moved out of the way to allow the older man to walk inside. "Would you like anything to drink while you wait?

The good doctor waved his hand dismissively. "No, but thank you anyway. Unfortunately, I don't have a lot of spare time today." He looked at his watch before placing his hand back into the pocket of his lab coat. "We have to make up for missing Zane's examinations last month."

He let out a resigned sigh as he continued, "He'll be away for most of the day."

"It's fine." Takeshi chuckled, "This is really convenient, actually."

Akihito arched a brow at the man, "Really? Why is that?"

His immediate answer came in the form of a grumpy eleven-year-old in a simple black shirt, white shorts, and sneakers storming by them and out the door. The boy's narrowed eyes refused to look at either of them as he passed them and slammed the door closed.

"..."

"..."

A few awkward moments of silence passed afterwards. The two men turned to one another once more, Akihito's eyes lidded in exasperation while Takeshi was grinning sheepishly.

"What did you do this time, Takeshi?"

Takeshi looked genuinely surprised by the accusatory tone. "What makes you think it was _my _fault?!"

Akihito poked him in the chest a couple times as he stared Takeshi down with narrowed brown eyes. "I know this because I remember Atsuma having that _exact same_ response each and _every time_ you do something foolish."

Takeshi brought his hands up in surrender as he replied nervously, "Look, alright! All I did was beat him at his favorite video game. He's just mad that I left out the fact that I'm good at the game as well." He shrugged. "I'm sure he'll cool down, just give him time."

The doctor held a well restrained growl in his throat, the only visible sign of his agitation being his twitchy left eyebrow. "And you were hoping that I would be the one to bear through it in the meantime, _right_?"

"Uhh… _yeess_?" Takeshi replied uneasily under the man's accusatory gaze.

"_Mmmm…_" Even with his lips firmly sealed, Akihito couldn't stop a muffled growl from making itself known.

They both heard footsteps as they turned towards the new occupant. Takeru had a look of surprised curiosity as he stared at the tall, bluenette doctor. Inaho stood a little ways behind him, her expression more excited than her foster brother's.

Takeru spoke up as he walked up to Akihito. "Hey, Mister Nijou!"

The man bent down to the boy's height with a gentle smile on his lips. "And hello to you as well, young man." He patted Takeru's head gently. "How's your head doing, my boy? A lingering soreness or sudden bouts of dizziness?"

Takeru shook his head, a smile of his own appearing. "No, sir! It's all good!" He wrapped his small knuckles against his head a couple times. "Though Mom, Dad, and Big Brother say I still forget things sometimes."

A frown flashed across Akihito's visage for a second before a more subdued smile made its way back. He hoped that didn't get any worse, but he was sure that it was only minor. With good fortune, it would pass in due time. "Well, just make sure that you don't smash your head against anything more stubborn than you are."

Takeru nodded eagerly. "I'll be more careful, Mister Nijou!"

The doctor's eyes then came upon Inaho. "And what is your name, young lady?"

Inaho perked up instantly. "I'm Kushiya Inaho!" There was a flash of recognition in Akihito's eyes before they resettled. The excited girl pointed at his face before shouting, "I know you! You're that famous doctor-person that I saw on the news once!"

"Mmm. That's quite right, Inaho-san. Drat!" Snapping his fingers, Akihito adopted a sardonically agitated persona, looking off at the side. "My secret identity has already been found out!" His sharp eyes turned back to her from the side and he winked at her with a slightly garish smirk tweaking his lips. The genuine look of confusion that had been on the girl's face morphed into a giddy smile.

Standing back up as he looked at his watch again, Akihito addressed Takeshi once more. "Well, we'd better take off and get that boy's examinations done." As Takeshi walked him out the front door, Akihito stopped just before exiting the threshold. "By the way, Takeshi, I'm going to be staying in town for a couple of months."

He leaned in closer towards Takeshi, his voice hushed so that the children couldn't hear his next words. "You and Atsuma should come see me when you can, at the very least Atsuma."

The man firmly squeezed Takeshi's shoulder. Takeshi was silent, his expression unreadable, before he nodded. "Thanks again, Akihito."

The doctor released his grip on his old friend. "Any time, Takeshi." He then walked towards his car, the grumpy pre-teen waiting impatiently.

Takeshi closed the front door before he turned back to the kids with a content smile. "Come on, kids. Let's get back to the TV."

With that, he ushered the two children back into the living room.

_One hour later…_

"Heh! Takeru," Takeshi pointed towards the TV screen as he addressed his son, "don't you think it's interesting that, in the animal kingdom, the _females _of most species are usually larger or more aggressive than the males?"

Takeru folded his arms. "I'm telling mom you said that."

"No need," Takeshi replied, grinning. "Your mother knows _exactly _how large, and aggressive, she is."

_Ding-Dong~_

"Hmm?" Takeshi raised a brow as he heard the doorbell for the second time this morning. He then got up from his seat to answer it. "Hm, wonder who that could be…"

After leaving the room, Inaho's usual excitable began to slowly dull as boredom began to set in. She had lost interest in what they had been watching when it started featuring documentaries of different insects. _Bleh! _She stuck out her tongue in disgust at the mere thought of the creepy crawlies.

_I want to see the big kitties again!_

Plus, she was already starting to miss her older brother. Things were always more fun when they were all together. She looked towards Takeru. "When's Zane nii-sama coming back?"

Takeru answered back without taking his eyes away from the jousting horn beetles shown on screen. "It shouldn't be for a while, Ina-chan. Big Brother's usually gone for a while whenever he has his monthly check-ups."

"Why does he need to have those anyway?" she asked.

Takeru shrugged, "We always see him wrapped in those bandages, right? I just thought he just has some kind of weird condition he has to deal with all of the time."

"You mean you don't know?" Inaho became a bit irritated with Takeru. "Why do not know more about him? He's your brother, isn't he?"

Takeru was a bit frazzled by the girl's anger. "I don't know what to tell you, Ina-chan. I haven't known him for too long, okay?"

Puffing up her cheeks with arms crossed, Inaho rebutted, "You _always _say that."

She let the matter drop for now. Inaho flipped her body around so she could lay on her back with her feet on the back-cushions and her head hanging over the edge. She could already feel her blood beginning to rush to her head but she didn't care too much about that. "I'm _soo boorred!_ I wanna do something else."

Takeru placed a hand on his chin, thinking for a moment. "Why don't we go to the park again?"

Inaho kicked her feet against the cushions. "But didn't Mr. Ooyama say that we should always go as a group?"

Takeru fell back against the cushions as the realization hit. "Crap, you're right. Without Big Brother coming with us, we can't go far from the house."

The sound of rapid footsteps reached both of their ears as they both turned to see a young girl (about their age) with short-cut purple hair rushing into the room. She came to a screeching halt in front of the two, her eyes instantly locking on to Takeru as a large smile spread across her cheeks.

Takeru and Inaho stared back at the girl with widening surprise and growing curiosity respectively. Takeru found his voice, "Haru-nee-"

"Take-chan!" The purplette jogged up to boy, arms spread wide with unrestrained joy. She wrapped the lad in a warm hug, though it was a little awkward since Takeru was still sitting on the couch, which left Haruko mostly hugging his head. Takeru wrapped his arms around her stomach in return. "It's so good to see you again!"

Nevertheless, neither minded the awkward position and basked in the joyful reunion. After a few moments, they released each other from the embrace as Takeru responded, "I'm glad to see you back from your trip, Haru-nee-chan!" His grin seemed to brighten up the whole room. "We thought you wouldn't be coming back for another couple weeks."

"I thought so, too. But..." She tapped a finger against her chin. "My dad did say that his job called him to come back from vacation early because of an emergency. So, we drove back as soon as we could. I am a little sad that we didn't stay with my grandparents a little longer."

"I'm sure you'll see them again." Takeru patted the side of her shoulder jovially. "I mean, _we're_ glad to have you back, at least."

As if suddenly registering the lack of another presence, Haruko asked aloud, with eyes drifting across the rest of the room, "Where's Zane-kun? I thought he'd be here with you."

"Oh, he's with Mister Nijou getting his examinations done for the month." Takeru shrugged his shoulders. "I overheard that he's going to be away longer this time."

A little saddened yet understanding, Haruko only gave a slightly deflated "okay" before she felt something tapping on her shoulder from behind. She turned around and saw a young girl she had never seen before standing there, curiosity (with just a _hint_ of nervousness) flickering within the gleaming reddish brown pools that stared at her.

"Umm, hello…" The girl hesitated, feet idly shuffling from left to right. "If it's not too rude to ask, who are you, exactly? You and Take-kun seem to know each other. Oh!" The girl smiled brightly. "Are you another friend of his and nii-sama?"

_Nii-sama?_ Haruko parrotted in her mind, confused. "Well, uh, Take-chan, Zane-kun, and I have been friends for awhile since our families' live close to each other." She reached her left hand out in greeting, smiling back. "My name's Haruko Amaya. What's yours?"

Gingerly placing her hand in the slightly taller girl's hand, Inaho shook it before responding with her own greeting. "Mine's Inaho Kushiya. I've been living with the Ooyamas for a little while now." She tilted her head innocently, "Zane nii-sama and Take-kun never mentioned anything about you though."

"Really?!" Dismayed, Haruko whipped towards the sole male in the room with a scrunched brows and puffed cheeks. "Did you two completely forget about me or something?!"

Takeru stumbled back from the purplette, a bead of sweat dripping down the side of his temple. "Of course not, Haru! It's just, uh, the topic never came up. There wasn't a need to tell her about you."

A half truth. During the initial stages of recovering from his severe concussion, his brains were so scrambled that he only had fragments of his memories floating around in his head. Without Zane, Mom, and Dad there to help him recover, he would've completely forgotten about Haruko as well.

_It would be best if she _doesn't _find out about that_. Takeru thought to himself.

"Oh!" The children turned to look towards the entrance to the room to see Takeshi standing next to Haruko's parents. "Seems like you're already getting to know our neighbors already, Ina-chan."

"Aww~! She's such a cutie, Takeshi-san!" Mrs. Amaya gushed as she sprinted over and glomped the young girl in question. Arms wrapped tightly around her smaller body in a _seemingly_ harmless bear hug. "Ooh~! So adorable, I can hug her forever!"

'Seemingly' harmless because poor little Inaho looked like a deer stuck in headlights in that moment, her feet dangling as the Amaya matriarch spun around a few times. Maybe she thought it would've been best to pretend to be a cadaver?

While Haruko pleaded for her mom to calm down, Mr. Amaya whispered towards Takeshi with arms folded, "_Another one_? You and your wife seem to have an affinity for finding lost children, Takeshi-kun."

"Luckily, we didn't find her as beaten up as Zane was. But," Takeshi continued, "it was still a cause for concern when we found out _who_ it was that put those bruises on her. Atsuma wasn't happy, and neither was I." His fist tightened slightly at his side before relaxing again, looking at the smiling faces of the children.

He swore he would do everything he could to make sure they kept smiling.

Mr. Amaya patted Takeshi's shoulder. "Well, whatever the case, I'm glad that both of those children have a place they can call home and people who care about them."

Takeshi smiled back, "Thanks, Keito." He looked back towards the kids again, clapping his hands to grab their attention. "Alright kids! Your mother should be coming home from the store in the next few hours. Why don't you three get some fresh air while it's still sunny out, yeah?"

Takeru perked up with his own question to that suggestion, "Really? I thought that you and Mom said it was only okay for us to go if Big Brother was there with us."

His father idly scratched his chin. "_Weelll_, me and your mother only said that because, out of the three of you, Zane was the most _responsible_ one. Since little Haruko-chan is here, I'm sure I can trust her to be responsible." He then added, "Plus, it would be best if you got some fresh air today. Your mother would be upset with me if she found out I had you two stay home, watching the tube and playing video games all day."

So, with little resistance on the childrens' part, Takeshi gently ushered them out through the front door. He gave a few parting words to the kids before they got out of earshot.

"Make your way back before it gets dark and make sure not to go near any alleys!" Takeshi warned.

"We'll stay safe, Ooyama-san!" Haruko called back before they turned the corner. She folded her hands behind herself as she skipped up next to her childhood friend.

"So…" she trailed off, her drawl tone giving away the question she had on the tip of her tongue. "Where are we gonna go, Take-chan?"

Leading the trio, Takeru relaxed his arms behind his head as he felt the warm sunlight bathe his skin. He felt his bones pop in various places from finally having some action today. "We can head to park like we always do. I know the other guys will be glad to see you're back, Haru-nee."

"I hope so."

As they continued their trek, they passed by a few alleys. Each one opened up to many other crisscrossing pathways between the many small and large houses and stores that made up the district they live in. With the sun being as high as it was, Inaho could clearly see how barren they were, the scattered trash cans and little bits of littered garbage notwithstanding. Though, as they were passing by one particular alley mouth, Inaho noticed Haruko and Takeru had suddenly become tense and alert.

Curiously, Inaho stopped for a moment to peer into this alleyway. Oddly enough, it seemed a tad darker than the other paths even though there wasn't much of a difference between any of them. A sudden chill skittered along her spine as she spotted a dark form dart behind a set of large metal trash bins. It was far too fast for Inaho to catch a glimpse of and she was too nervous to get a closer look; her legs had locked up from the sudden coiling fear rising within her. Then she heard a low, rumbling, snarling growl coming from where the blur disappeared to.

The quiet voice in her mind that had been urging her to back away was now screaming _"Get away!" _as soon as the large, dark quadruped stalked out from behind the pile of garbage. Its gaze was fierce and manic, forced under enormous pressure through two small, piercing eyes, like gas behind a bullet as it streaked down a gun barrel. She could _feel _the growling volcano of hunger, rage, and desperation boiling under the surface of those houndish pupils. Those very same eyes flashed as the hound reared back before releasing loud, snarling howls at her.

Inaho shrieked, tripping backwards in sheer terror. The feeling of gravity made her body instinctively brace for the painful collision with concrete. She clenched her eyes shut, tightly closed and waited for ground to meet her and the beast to lung at her faltering form. A fatal demise certainly awaited her for not _standing her ground._ Her mind briefly fell back within the mist of a memory; a memory most unpleasant.

_"Stand up, Inaho! You must stand up and stay firm!" a large, hulking figure commanded._

_"I-I can't! It hurts too much, Papa!" she whimpered and winced from the pain. She desperately pleaded for the man to stop._

_He only shook his head soberly before glaring at her, his expression as resolute as cold steel. "You _must _remain strong for the trials ahead. For your sake and those you choose to care for... I will not relent!"_

Her father had tried to teach her this lesson, to withstand tough adversity and _remain standing_, but she was far too young, far too _small_ to be able to stand up to such _terrifying_ things. It was what led to Takeru finding her, beaten, bruised, and tear-stricken as she swung lifelessly on the swing set that day.

The look her own father gave her, that _glare_… she could see his image overlapping the maddened gaze of the beast that wanted to tear into her.

Suddenly, she felt soft, warm arms wrapping around her and stopping her descent, both physically and metaphorically. Peeling her eyes open after what felt like minutes, she was greeted by the ever-radiant sun and cloudless blue sky.

"Inaho-san! Are you okay, Inaho-san?" a voice called from above her.

Inaho panned her sight further above her, meeting the concerned gaze of the purple-haired girl from before. "Haruko-san?" A little dazed from having been pulled from her past trauma, she dropped her eyes back to the alley in front of them, expecting the wild dog to be lunging at them by now.

Instead, her gaze only met with the back of the one boy that had come to hold all of her admiration. Takeru stood between the large, feral hound and the girls with his arms spread wide, using his whole body to block the dog's path. Inaho also noticed how the animal stopped barking and went back to the territorial, defensive snarling from before.

Takeru stood his ground, unflinching. "Yeah, that's right! You remember me, don't you?! You know what'll happen next now, right?" He waved his hands at the beast in a shewing gesture as if it were just a measly pup. "Go on now, _get_, if you know what's good for you!"

Inaho's eyes went wide as the dog made another rumbling growl. It quickly tapered off into a low whimper before barking half-threatenly and running off, tail tucked between its legs. As it sprinted off, Inaho noticed how truly _mangled_ the animal was. Along with the noticeable limp in its front left paw, several large patches of missing dark fur revealed many signs of faded scars and discolored bruises on various parts of its body, from the tip of its tail to its snout.

As it disappeared into the labyrinth of alleyways, Takeru visibly slumped before releasing a heavy breath of relief.

"_Whew!_ That was close. Stupid legs…" He mumbled the last part as he gave his legs a few good slaps. He then turned his face towards the girls with an easy grin, regardless of the _many_ pellets of sweat dripping down his face. "You alright, Inaho-chan? You weren't hurt, were you?"

Tears began to well up within Inaho's eyes before she lunged at the boy's midsection, arms wrapped around his lower back and teary-eyed face buried into the back of his cotton shirt. Her muffled sniffles and sobs were loud enough to draw Takeru's further concern as he went to pat her head with a hand in an attempt to console her.

"Ah jeez, Inaho-chan! There's no need to cry!" When she looked up to his face, he used the hand that had been on her head to boisterously poke a thumb into his own chest. "I made a promise, remember? To always protect you."

Inaho's sobs quieted down as she held onto him a little while longer, eyes shimmering with admiration. _That's right. Even after being face-to-face with something so terrifying, Takeru continued to stand up to it… to protect us._ She stood up wiped her eyes of fresh and dry tears. Takeru's grin settled down into a content smile as she composed herself.

"And what about me?!" Haruko barked (heh heh). "I was here, too! Why don't you promise to protect _meee?!"_

Takeru regarded his other friend with a confused look. "Huh?" His expression then turned cheerier. "You're the responsible one, Haru! My dad said so. I know you can take care of yourself, so there's no need for _me_ to worry about you!"

Haruko opened her mouth, then slammed it shut in a pout. "That doesn't mean you shouldn't…" she muttered.

"Shouldn't what now?"

"What?! Oh, n-nothing, Take-kun!"

Still a little clueless to what _that_ was all about just now, he turned back to Inaho. "You ready to get going again?"

With one last sniffle, a grateful and confident smile spread across Inaho's face. She nodded, "Mm-hmm!" _I want to be strong… just like Takeru._ She fidgeted for a second before asserting herself a bit. "C-can I hold your hand… just until we get to the park?"

Takeru pursed his lips with an arched brow. "Uuh... sure?" He then offered his left hand out to her, which she then took into her own. She continued to stare intently at the joined limbs, a light flush to her cheeks.

"Alrighty, let's go-" Takeru felt another tug on his right hand. Looking over he saw Haruko holding his other hand with both of hers. "You too, Haru?"

With an unmistakable blush on her face as well, she answered instantly. "I don't wanna be left out!"

"...Ooookaaay…" _Girls can be so _weird_! _As they continued walking, a distressing thought popped into his mind. _Ahh maann! What're the other guys gonna think when they see us?_ He could already see it now…

_"Haha! Guys, check it out! Takeru's holding hands with a couple of girrrls!"_

_"Don'cha know that girls have Cooties, Takeru? And Cooties are gross! Yuuck!"_

_"Coo-ties!" "Coo-ties!" "Coo-ties!"_

As Takeru zoned out in dread, Inaho continued to stare at the ground, periodically peeking at their joined hands. _Zane-nii-sama said once that grown-ups hold hands to show they love each other. Mr. and Mrs. Ooyama hold hands all the time. Does that mean…?_

Minutes of walking later, the many voices of other children reached their ears as they turned the corner to the park. Many boys and girls varying sizes and ages were playing together, either at the swingsets, the slides, the jungle-gym, the sandbox, or the large-ish grass patch that completed the little community park.

Some of the boys casually kicking a soccer ball around in the field that noticed the trio waved exuberantly, calling over to them.

"Heyyy! Takeru, over here!"

An older boy, seemingly around Zane's age spoke up. "Wanna play? We need one more player to even out the teams."

Fortunately, they hadn't noticed him holding hands with Haruko and Inaho. So thinking quickly, he released his grip from both of their hands and sprinted off. "Yeah, sure thing!"

"Why isn't your brother with you, Takeru?" one boy asked as Takeru ran over to them. "Did he hurt himself again?"

"Hospital stuff."

"So he _did_ hurt himself."

As the group of boys got their game started up, Inaho and Haruko both sported small pouts before resigning themselves. _Silly boys. _Inaho turned to look at her new friend. "Haruko-san, wanna play on the swings with me?"

Haruko beamed widely. "Sure!"

As they made their way to the last couple of open swings, Inaho tried to think of what to say to her. She knew that she wanted to talk to Haruko about something, but she had forgotten about what it was exactly. So the two girls swung in relative silence amongst the laughter and playful screaming of the other children.

Inaho revelled in the feeling of the warm summer air rushing brushing against her face, rushing through her hair and by her ears. The exhilaration of her momentum shifting back and forth like a pendulum as she swung her little legs back and forth at each high point of her arches. The constant temptation to go higher never failed to bring a childish grin to her face, though she did slow herself down a bit as she recalled what she wanted to ask Haruko.

Matching her swings with the slower, more mellow pace the older girl had, Inaho posed her question. "Ne, Haruko-san?"

"Hm?" Turning her lingering gaze away from Takeru as he nearly got bodied by one of the older kids, she looked towards Inaho with new curiosity. "Yes, Inaho-san?"

She licked her lips a bit, testing the words as they left her mouth. "You and Takeru-kun have known Zane nii-sama for a while. Why is he always wrapped up? And why he has to go to the hospital every month?" She twiddled her thumbs against the chains of her swing, mostly out of embarrassment. "I was too scared to ask him himself, so I asked Take-kun about it."

Her expression twisted a bit with irritation. "But even _he_ doesn't know!" Then came the exasperated pout as she stared forward. "Gosh! Take-kun can be so oblivious."

"I wouldn't be too hard on him."

Inaho turned back to Haruko as a fond smile formed on the purplette's face, though it faltered into a half-smile-half-grimace seconds afterwards. "I mean, because... I don't really know much about him, either."

Immediately, Inaho stomped both of her feet into the dirt on her return swing forward, bringing her movement to a screeching halt. "Eeehhhh?!" Incredulously and wide eyed, Inaho stared at the other girl as if she had grown a second head. "So you _both_ don't know?!"

"It's not like it's an easy thing to talk about!" Haruko waved her hands in as a way to calm Inaho down a bit. "I didn't really think it was right to ask him about his… _condition_."

She leaned in a bit more and cupped a hand by the side of her mouth. "_He gets grumpy when people stare at him,_" Haruko whispered.

"Who are you two talking about?"

Both Inaho and Haruko whipped their heads around to look at the potential eavesdropper. This intruder had several other 'accomplices' huddled up in front of them, multiple boys and girls standing with curiosity etched on their young faces.

Still a little surprised from suddenly being the center of attention amongst some of the other kids, Haruko blinked a couple of times before answering. "We were just talking about Zane-kun."

An older girl perked up. "Oh! You mean Mummy-kun!"

A shorter boy spoke up. "Why didn't he come with you guys this time?"

Inaho chose to answer. "He couldn't come because of some medical checkups."

"Checkups?" The boy seemed concerned. "Is Mummy-san sick or something?"

Inaho shrugged. "Not sure. All we know is that it's just a monthly thing." She threw a glance towards Takeru's direction, who cheered as his team scored a point. She remembered how she had thought a little badly of him for not knowing anything about his sibling. She'd make sure to put more faith in Takeru. He wasn't the type to _intentionally_ hide things from people; he was far too honest.

An older girl clasped her hands together, her eyes filled with hope. "I'm sure he's doing fine. He always tries so hard to play with the other boys even with his injuries." A small hint of pink tinged her face. "I think it's kinda cool."

"Yeah! Zane's tough!" The shorter boy's voice peaked out over the older children once more. "It doesn't matter if he's hurt or sick; he'll come by again when he's ready."

"I dunno, Kai-tan," another young girl with light pink hair seem innocently sceptical. "I've been hearing some of the older boys talk about how _weird_ he is. On top of that, no one knows anything about him before the Ooyamas took him in. I think its sce-chy..." She muttered that last part more to herself.

"I think you mean sketchy, Uruchi-chan." The older girl corrected respectfully.

Taken aback by the news of other boys talking badly about one of the few people she cared about, Inaho hopped off of her swing with a huff. "They don't know what they're talking about!" Her outburst caught everyones' attention. "Zane nii-sama is _not _weird. Just because he doesn't talk about himself, that doesn't make him weird!"

Haruko took this moment to be the mediator before things got particularly heated. Standing next to Inaho, she spoke in front of the crowd of children almost as if she was being a stern teacher in front of a class. Finger wagging 'n all. "You all should know that you shouldn't talk about someone when they aren't here."

She placed her hands on her hips a she kept the train of words going. "Me and Taki have known him for a while now. It shouldn't matter what other people say about him."

Kai gave his support, "Yeah! Plus, we can always just ask him when we see him."

"Though, if it's not too rude to ask, what is Ooyama-san like when you're with him, Inaho-san?" One of the other girls asked, eyes wide with expectancy. It seemed like quite a few older girls were starting to gather into the small crowd.

Over on the grass field, Takeru peaked over towards the playground where a group of the other children were gathering. He then spotted Haruko and Inaho amongst them. Most of them seemed to be talking about something, some were laughing while a few others were grinning (or smiling fondly) about something-or-other.

Too far to hear anything of decent substance, he grew a little curious. _I wonder what they are talking about._ Whatever it was, it must've been quite something.

So lost in his own curiosity, he had completely forgotten about the on-going soccer game he was _currently involved in_. So, in classic fashion, he never saw the white and black dotted sphere heading towards him at high velocity.

Nor heard the shout of "Heads up, Takeru!"

_Puhnk! _"Dwuah!"

The ball smacked the side of his face and the force of it made his vision flash white. Hot pain and spit flew from between his lips. His small body was knocked to the grass as the ball itself flew through the air at an arc before bouncing once and continuing towards the opposing goal and surprised goalie. There were several seconds of silence before Takeru could hear exuberant cheering.

His teammates then ran over to his downed form.

"Yo, Takeru, you alright there?!"

After a few moments, Takeru raised a somewhat shaky thumbs up before letting his hand fall again. He could already feel the left side of his face swell up slightly. "_Uh'm good._"

"That was awesome, Takeru-san!" Another boy called out. "Who would've thought using your face would've won us the game? Good thinking!" He threw up a thumbs up of his own, grinning cheekily.

Instead of being excited and happy for his Takeru let out a weak groan. _It was an accident!_

Maybe his mom was right. He really did need to work on his attention problems.

…

Hours had passed and the sun had finally started going down, giving off a tired, tranquil, and rustic glow. The children had already said their goodbyes and gotten home without further incident.

As they strode up to the front door, Dr. Nijou came walking out, hands in coat pockets and the usual pensive expression on his mature face. His body was half-turned to them as he was still engaged in a conversation with Atsuma, who had opened the door for him.

"Are you sure you don't want to stay for dinner?" Atsuma asked, leaning casually against the frame. "I made plenty for everyone."

Dr. Nijou brought a hand out in a stale wave goodbye. "I'm sure, but thank you anyway, Atsuma. I still have to file through Zane's test results." He heaved short sigh of exhausted acquiescence as he placed his raised hand on his neck, cracking it, "_A lot _of paperwork to make up for, which will make for _long _all-nighter. The wife might give me another mouthful for coming home late, again."

"You can just give that boy my portions. He needs the extra carbs. Make sure not to miss our appointment tomorrow. There are some things I must discuss with you and Takeshi." He turned around to walk away after receiving a nonchalant "Sure, sure", only to stop as he spotted the children walking up to him.

"Hello, Mister Nijou!" The three greeted eagerly.

"Hello children, it's good that you've made it back safely. Though," his sharp eyes glided over the faint red welt on Takeru's face, "I guess not _completely _unscathed. What happened?"

Inaho spoke up first as Takeru blushed in embarrassment while looking away. "Takeru got hit by the ball while playing a game."

"Ah. So he was playing soccer, I assume." A brief chortle shot through Dr. Nijou's chest like a popped bubble as he took a knee to level his height with the boy's. "I know for a fact that most athletes would rather use their _heads _than their _faces_, Takeru." Even the professional doctor couldn't help but throw teasing jabs at the young boy.

"Can you do something about it, Mr. Nijou?!" Takeru flailed his arms around sporadically. "I don't want Dad and Big Brother to see it and make fun of me." He pouted spitefully, probably already imagining the teasing and playful jeering at his expense.

Well, the doctor couldn't have _that_. He ushered the boy closer, "Here, let's take a look at that. Hold still." As much as he liked the Ooyama family, he would always be the first one to call Zane and Takeshi 'Grade A Knuckleheads'. He placed his large palm on the side of Takeru's face; his hand being large enough to completely encompass the light bruise.

The boy giggled from the contact. "That tickles."

Mr. Nijou smiled for a second, taking his hand away. "Hmm. I don't see much of a problem here. As a matter of fact," he stood up as the two girls leaned in to stare at Takeru's face in confusion, "I don't think there'll be anything to worry about." Where there was once red-ish and noticeably swollen skin, fresh, unblemished skin remained.

_Almost as if it had always been._ None of the children saw Dr. Nijou give a distant look of longing disdain towards his own palm before his usual stoicism slid back into place once again.

"It's gone!" Haruko gasped.

"Where did all the red go?!" Inaho was flabbergasted!

Takeru went about feeling his cheek. No more raised skin or stinging sensation at a touch.

His eyes widened. "How did you do that?!" Then he gasped as he thought of the _only _answer. "Was it magic? That was magic, wasn't it?!"

"That…" Akihito paused for dramatic effect, both hands now firmly placed in his coat pockets. The children leaned in expectantly and waited with anticipation, their curiosity and wonder brimming in their soul-windows.

"...is a secret." He winked at them before walking off to his car.

The groans were so loud they sounded like a dying train horn. Atsuma swiftly stepped in.

"C'mon kids, let's get you inside. Dr. Nijou is a very busy man and he has to get going now." She prompted the children to wave at the retreating doctor. "Say goodnight to the doctor, everyone."

"Goodnight, Mister Nijou!" all three children called together.

The man threw one last casual wave over his shoulder before getting in his car, starting it, and driving off.

And once again the sun finally set, putting the Land of the Rising Sun into another peaceful slumber beneath the cool caress of night. Though, alongside pleasant dreams came uncertain, foreboding thoughts of the future.

…

...

**AN: FUCKING... HELL!**

**God! Writing from a child's point of view has **_**gotta **_**be one of the hardest things I had to do. Why is that?! Children have the simplest mindsets, so I don't understand why it's so hard.**

**I dunno. Maybe the main issue is that, being grown adults, we can no longer see the world through innocent eyes anymore. I might be wrong though.**

**Ikrani! Send your divine guidance upon this humble, broken man! Why can't adults understand children?!**

_**BN: As someone who just spent the previous year and a half working with kids, best I heard is that children have underdeveloped logic centers in their brain, thus adhere to "selective logic". Makes sense with what I've seen. Sometimes they can be made to see the bigger picture, like exchanging what they want now for what they might want later. Other times, they flat-out **_**refuse **_**to see the bigger picture because they want something NOW and will happily raise all nine levels of Hell to get it.**_

_**So, yeah, the problem with writing kids is that they're inconsistent, and not even consistently inconsistent.**_

**Thank you!**

**Anyways, this chapter's done. On to the next one!**


	3. Chapter 3

Chapter 3

**AN: I do not own anything but my OC and my idea for the story.**

**Song used is "The Day Is My Enemy** (**Liam H Remix feat. Dope)" by The Prodigy.**

Chapter Three

Atsuma winced as she felt the sting of the needle pierce her skin. The syringe punctured the thick vein within the junction between her forearm and bicep. A shudder ran through her. "_Ughhh~_! Still can't get used to that."

Pulling back on the plunger with his thumb, Akihito kept his eyes on the amount of blood filling the tool as he responded, with his own brand of sophisticated snark, "In all my years in the medical field, you have been the _most difficult_ whenever it comes to drawing blood or getting flu shots."

Practically _feeling_ the pouted glare being thrown at him, he continued. "You'd think that a woman in your profession, with your talents, would have more courage against a tiny needle." He withdrew the syringe and sanitized the puncture.

Rubbing the spot to alleviate the prickling, Atsuma shot back, "Yeah, well, maybe it's not the needles. _Maybe_ it's the person holding them." She smirked with the smugness of a cat that had finally caught the canary.

Separating the disposable needle from the syringe capsule and tossing it into the waste bin, Akihito eyed her curiously for a moment. He already knew where this was going. Having known her for years and having been the Ooyamas' personal doctor for just as long, he knew the subtle intricacies behind Atsuma's teasing, snarky mannerisms. She had always been the type to wear her heart on her sleeve and no matter how hard she tried, she couldn't stop those bubbling negative emotions from reaching the surface.

He saw her hands, the way she gripped the arm he drew blood from tightly, both limbs trembling ever so slightly.

His brows furrowed. _She's very fidgety_, he thought. He couldn't blame her for being nervous. The first time she had gotten a check like this, years back, they had found that she had been dealing with an unknown, _terminal_ disease. Akihito had been providing her with special medication of his own making in the hopes of curing her. Over the years, signs of the disease have been slowly yet steadily decreasing. They've been having these check-ups ever since. In fact, he was sure that if they had never met at all, Atsuma would've succumbed to her illness _two years prior_.

So, for sympathy's sake, he'd let her have this. _Just this once, though._

He stored the blood vial in his left breast pocket as he said offhandedly, "Normally, I'd have something to say to that, but..." A slight twitch of irritation crawled across his face at the cheeky grin she sported. "We have a lot of important things to discuss. Well, in regards to your _other_ son, specifically."

He kicked off the floor so he could roll his chair to the desk behind him. He grabbed a folder filled with various files. "Since our printers have been having issues lately, it will take a little while before your MRI results are processed. So," he rolled back in front of Atsuma and Takeshi, "I thought I'd take this time and share with you his examination results, along with something that I found _deeply_ concerning."

Opening the folder and handing the couple a few of the files, Akihito elaborated as the shuffled through them. "For starters, I believe that I've found the cause for Zane's 'finicky' constitution."

"At least _someone_ figured it out." Atsuma nudged her husband's shoulder. "Unlike this goober here."

Takeshi shrugged in defeat. "How was I supposed to know that meditation wasn't working for him? It works for everyone else." He sighed as he glazed over the files. Most of the information on these documents was data that had been compiled over past examinations along with some notes to help simplify things.. Nothing popped out to him as extraordinary, honestly. "I just thought that, maybe, his body was just too weak to handle channeling _Element_. But, I guess I was wrong, huh?"

"The way you thought about it wasn't _completely_ wrong," Akihito said. "As you can see from the previous results, Zane's body is _far_ from weak. In fact, it even stacks up to most able-bodied adults."

If that was the case, then… "What could be the issue then?" Atsuma asked. Most of the things she and Takeshi knew about how Element worked inside the body just didn't seem to apply to the boy like it should have.

"To put it simply, the energy that flows within his body isn't Element. Not completely, at least."

That took them off guard. "That isn't possible," Atsuma stated, as if it was a solidified fact. "Element comes from the earth and resides in all living things. For someone to not have life force that's _completely_ composed of it is… unnatural."

"What, are you gonna say that he's some kind of _alien_? Ha-ah!" Takeshi laughed, only to be swiftly silenced by an object impacting his forehead. A small metal marble bounced back into the doctor's waiting hand, having left an equally small red dot from its point of contact.

Rolling the projectile between his knuckles idly, Akihito continued. "Nothing so outlandish, I assure you. Our scanners only picked up _very minute_ traces of Element whenever he activated his abilities. Whatever else the scanner was also picking up was unidentifiable. Then I tried to look into it personally. Though, it was…" His voice trailed off.

"Almost indescribable, right?" Takeshi grunted as he rubbed the spot on his forehead. Both his wife and Akihito looked at him intriguingly as he continued. "I've felt out his energy a couple times during his meditation sessions. It was a mix between... scorching and electrifying... heavy and overwhelming, like standing next to an angry volcano while a looming thunderstorm hung overhead." He shook his head softly. "I honestly can't remember the last time I felt something that intense."

Atsuma perked up a bit as a thought came to her. "I could use _Blood Pointer_," she suggested. "If anything, it would let me understand what it is on a more fundamental level-"

"No." As quick as a whip, Akihito denied her. "Overusing that ability has already caused your body to be damaged by corrupt Element. Whatever power is residing in that boy cannot be classified as 'normal' Element; it may worsen your condition considerably."

"Whatever it is, it seems to work like Element, yet is _far _more potent." Takeshi tapped his hand against the papers in his hand. "Though, right now it's a small boost, he receives enhanced strength, durability, and agility. Other than an accelerated healing factor, there isn't much of a difference from the norm."

"Hold on." Dr. Akihito's fingers rifled through the other papers in his folder before coming to stop and handing them another file. "Here, take a look at that."

Looking it over, Takeshi's brows shot up as his mouth formed a circle, "Oh..." Seems he spoke too soon.

He could already feel his wife's questioning gaze when she said, "You were saying?"

As the file reads, every time Zane activated his abilities, his heart rate, blood pressure, and body temperature would rise past what the human body should be able to handle. Then there was the abnormal spikes in brain activity as well. It was a damn _miracle_ that the boy hadn't suffered any strokes. "Element shouldn't be doing that to the body, Akihito. It's far too invasive."

"That's what I was also thinking," the doctor said, nodding in agreement. "Just as I said before, his power doesn't come from Element alone. Although, it isn't the main factor to his problem. If anything, Zane barely showed any discomfort."

"No," he continued, "His problem is that he lacks _proper_ knowledge of his body and all of its intricate parts and functions."

Atsuma seemed perplexed. "Wow, seriously? How'd you confirm something like that?"

"Through many thorough observations," he elaborated further as he massaged his forehead, "and many, _many_ tests."

"I'm sure you remember how ability users harness magical energy."

"Yup," Atsuma confirmed, "'Those that are spiritually sensitive can manipulate the spiritual energies that their souls generate on a daily basis.' Visualizing it in your mind calls it forth and, well..." She paused in thought. "The rest is pretty much automatic from there."

The doctor rubbed his chin as he shook his head, mumbling disgruntledly, "I've never liked that kind of explanation, far too vague."

"Well, _we_ prefer that explanation of it," Atsuma said.

"Yeah," Takeshi chimed in. "Nice, simple, and easy to understand."

"And as an _intellectual_..." Akihito distinctly heard Atsuma cough into her fist off to her side to disguise a poorly muffled _"Self-proclaimed"_. Without hesitating this time he took this moment to bean her the same way he did Takeshi minutes ago, causing her to yelp from sheer surprise and stinging pain. The previous victim snickered silently at his wife's expense, earning him a shove in the arm.

Casually catching the marble again, Akihito continued. "As an intellectual, I refuse to accept such a vague thesis. So, from multiple studies on different types of Ability users, I've found one thing that's common within all of them."

"And what would that be?" Takeshi asked since Atsuma was busy nursing the red dot on her forehead, probably mumbling some curses towards the doctor. "How their bodies were wired?"

"Unlike _normal_ humans, Ability Users like us have a sub-system of channels that run parallel to the Nervous system. Scientists and Doctors that remain ignorant of Element and Maken entirely wrote it off as a 'useless system that's hardly worth mentioning', but in actuality, this subsystem acts more like an electrical coil. It absorbs and magnifies the excess spiritual energy that our souls produce and since it runs so close to our normal nervous system, it allows us to perceive Element as a semi-physical _thing_. Kind of like a 'sixth sense', in a way."

"Yeah, no." Atsuma and Takeshi both shook their heads. "That explanation sucks."

Akihito merely rolled his eyes. "Whatever. Basically, while normal people have eleven bodily systems, Ability users have an extra one that works _separately_ from the others." He paused in thought. "It certainly explains how there's never any other signs of negative feedback besides the occasional bouts of exhaustion. They do most of the hard work to balance out the distribution of power."

"Now, the thing about Zane is that he _doesn't_ have this system, so the energy has to flow throughout his entire body, unfiltered. And without those extra channels to help 'autocorrect', he has to _will_ _it_ to all of the necessary parts or else he'll run at risk of accidentally, erm, crushing any bones, organs, or muscles that haven't received equa of morel enhancements."

Takeshi winced and Atsuma looked mortified by the mental image. It was a terrifying thought, to always have to be self-conscious of your own power or else find yourself betrayed by your own body.

What a way to take "No worse enemy than one's self" in the most _literal_ way possible.

"That's very... dangerous," Takeshi said with a grimace.

Akihito nodded sagely. "Yes, it is. Fortunately, meditation has allowed Zane to create a conscious mental link to those reserves, where as before, his powers would only activate when the adrenaline hormone was released into his bloodstream."

It went without saying that the doctor had tested this theory multiple times before, including yesterday. Without warning, mechanical work-out equipment would suddenly "switch routines" that would induce enough stress on the boy to trigger his "fight or flight" responses. Either it being the treadmill suddenly increasing speed and Zane having to adjust in an instant to keep from tumbling, or the bench press would suddenly apply more weight and the boy had to keep from getting crushed.

Zane's adrenal glands must've been _extraordinarily_ complex because the time it took for the adrenaline to kick in after release was damn-near instantaneous. And, once again, the human body proved how much of a working marvel it truly was as it even perfectly balanced out the flow of power all on it's own.

Although, the boy was still left exhausted and dazed afterwards, as expected. The slinging of swears was always expected as well.

"So all he needs now is knowledge of anatomy, right?" Takeshi inquired.

Akihito confirmed it. "Correct. I even got the perfect book for him to study." He then pulled out a book from the nearest cabinet, it's cover consisting mostly of black, white, and yellow with the title being: **Anatomy and Physiology for Dummies**.

"Oh." Takeshi held back a chuckle that tickled at his lungs as he received the book. "Oh yeah, this'll do." He could already see the boy's reaction to the title alone. He'd take it as an insult to his intelligence or something. "Saves us the trouble of finding a personal tutor."

"Invaluable reference material," the doctor said sagely. "Why waste money on some stranger who _probably_ won't take his job seriously enough when you can spend less on a really good book that you can hold on to for a lifetime?" Akihito was a firm believer in book-learning over open and private lectures. No offense to teachers, but he always preferred having portable knowledge nearby, just in case he needed a quick reference.

A skilled doctor he may be; a perfect man he was not.

"Just make sure to have him read for at least an hour a day." He flipped through the file some more before coming to a stop again. A wrinkle formed on his lips. "Now on to something that I found deeply concerning. It's important that you both take this as seriously as I do." His piercing brown eyes were narrowed at both of them.

Silent at his no-nonsense tone, the couple briefly shared a look with one another before bringing their full attention back to Akihito. Their expressions were slightly tensed, as if braced for his next words.

Taking their silent compliance, the doctor stood out of his chair and went over to the pale rectangular screen that took up a small portion of the wall across from them. He flipped a switch on the side of the panel that caused the screen to light up before flipping the light switch for the room 'off', causing the only source of light in the room to come from the panel's screen.

Akihito slid a couple of faintly outlined photos onto the screen, revealing what was taken on the two x-ray photos: two different perspectives of a single skeletal system, mostly the torso area.

The _anomaly_ was instantly apparent. Right over the area where the sternum was located there was a large, blurry mass of root-like tendrils that seemed to twist and wrap around the sternum itself, along with a couple of the ribs that were close by. In fact, it looked more like some twisted amalgamation that _wanted_ to resemble tree roots.

"_What the hell is that?!_" Takeshi had to stand up from his seat just to process what he was seeing. Atsuma remained seated but her shock mirrored his own.

"_That_," Akihito paused as he pointed towards the fuzzy mass, "is what I wanted to talk to you about."

Intense motherly instincts kicking in, Atsuma asked a more pressing question, "Why weren't we told about this sooner, Akihito? How can something like _that_ go unnoticed for so long?!"

"That's one of the issues I'm trying to figure out." The doctor slid in a couple more photos on the screen. These had the same perspective shots as the previous two, though, these didn't have anything abnormal about them.

Akihito pointed towards these photos, peering closely at them himself, "These were taken a couple months ago and as you can clearly see, _nothing_," he turned back towards the parents, "Something must have happened to cause whatever _this _is to appear out of seemingly nowhere. Any ideas?"

A memory came to the forefront of Atsuma's mind. "I _did_ notice that Zane has been wearing a shirt more often when he's in the house." When Akihito raised a brow at something seemingly mundane, she elaborated. "He usually went shirtless around the house, a little before Takeshi started putting him through those meditation sessions a little over a month ago."

She and Akihito looked towards Takeshi as he sat back down and racked his brain for any answers or possible clues. "The purpose of the meditation was only to let him get a feel of his own power, so he can remember those particular feelings and call it forth at... will… Hold on." A theory came to him. "Couldn't this just be his _Maken's_ physical manifestation?"

Akihito folded his arms for a moment before propping his chin in his left fist in thought. It was a pretty sound theory, but something about this didn't add up. "It would make some sense, but I've never seen or even heard of an internal Maken that manifested physically _inside_ of the host's body. If anything, it should have materialized as a piece of jewelry or weapon of some sort."

"Shouldn't he be in constant pain because of this?" Atsuma asked hurriedly.

Akihito shook his head, still puzzled by it himself. "I'm not sure how, but… it doesn't seem to affect him in any way. No signs of discomfort, nor any muscle spasms. By some miracle, it's somehow managed to not pierce anything. It's almost as if…" He peered closer at the anomaly before continuing the thought. "The 'roots' are seamlessly _phasing_ through the skin and muscle tissue."

"Why is it so blurry?" Takeshi asked.

"I'm not sure. I'll see if I can call up a friend of mine that could know more about this than I do. But for now," Akihito said, flipping the switch for the lights in the room to turn back on, "I just wanted to show you that and warn you that if something happens with Zane, I'm going to recommend immediate surgery to remove whatever that thing is."

Silence filled the air like a rolling fog. Both parents felt the pits of their stomachs drop at those words.

Atsuma was the first to speak up. "How would you even go about removing that safely?" She shook her head. "No. It's too much of a risk, Akihito. Tampering with it now would most likely _kill_ him."

"Trust me, Atsuma. I wouldn't have suggested it if I didn't already have a method of safe removal. I know someone in the medical field that has done an operation like this." Akihito understood where she was coming from, but he still felt the need to press on this. The boy's life could be in danger and he needed to let them know that he's prepared for the worst if things went sour.

"Is he another Maken user?" Takeshi asked.

The doctor nodded, sitting down in his chair. "Yes. Though, since it doesn't seem to be affecting him negatively, for now we'll leave it be."

Atsuma released a sigh of relief. Just the thought of one of her children having to go through such a risky operation put her nerves on edge. Though the knowledge of that _thing_ being inside that boy would now make her wary, she was glad that it didn't seem to be a problem. For now.

"Dr. Nijou." A feminine voice called out from the other side of the door.

"You may come in." Akihito said as his eyes veered towards the door.

Swinging open, a female nurse walked into the room with a set of papers held closely to her chest.

_Quite a chest, I must say. _Takeshi found himself discreetly admiring the young woman's, erm… _qualities_ as his eyes trailed up and down her form. Short-cut brown hair, nice peach pink skin, and dark red eyes like mid-Autumn leaves; she even had that young 'fresh out of college' disposition. The uniform she wore just wasn't made for a body type like her's, what with the way the thin material was straining around her thighs, waist, and chest regions. Some parts of her exposed legs and arms showed some light muscle tone. Young, busty, and cute? A dangerous combination to be sure.

_Ohh yeah… she _definitely _goes to the gym on occasion. I bet she gets a lot of attention from her other coworkers-a-aahhh! _Sharp, pinching _pain_ suddenly shot through him with enough intensity to make him visibly cringe. He looked to his side and spotted his wife's hand next to his thigh, fingers harshly pinching both the cloth and the skin underneath.

Oh, looks like he's been caught. She was giving him that sideways 'pissed off' look again. She was even pouting, too-_OW!_-okay, now she was twisting it! _Ow-ow-ow!_

"Here are the full-body scan results." The bubbly nurse said before handing the papers over to the tall man.

Accepting them, he replied with strict professionalism, "Thank you, Honiko-san."

The nurse bowed meekly and walked out of the room. Even as he was currently being punished by his wife, he still took notice of the light blush upon the young woman's cheeks. Akihito himself still remained as serious and professional as ever.

_Seriously?!_

It was unnerving to Takeshi how the man can keep his gaze on eye-level when he had such a perfect view of her chest with his height. He could've gotten away with it! Hell, the lady even looked like she wouldn't have minded, what with how she had _blatantly_ unhooked a couple of the top button of her uniform. There almost wasn't anything subtle about the way her cleavage was out there.

Man must've had an ironclad will.

"_Impossible.._." A troubled mutter escaped the doctors lips like cold wind slipping through the cracks of a stone wall. His eyes had become more and more frantic as he scanned over the papers in his hand, shuffling them with a rushed urgency.

The pinching stopped as Atsuma's attention was drawn away from her husband. Both she and Takeshi began to feel unease settling in as Akihito's eyes bolted from paper to paper. When they landed on the last sheet, he suddenly froze. The color of his face drained away as he stood there, rooted to the spot. The couple had never seen the man so… shaken.

Atsuma nearly hesitated to ask, "What does it say?"

Then, his features steeled themselves. Color returned to him as the aging lines clashed against each other to form a harsh, stern visage upon his face. He separated the last sheet from the rest and, from their angle, they didn't see anything on it. It was a blank sheet of paper.

Akihito held the sheet in his off-hand as he turned away from his oldest and dearest friends, too ashamed to even look them in their eyes. "I'm sorry…"

His eyes glanced towards the sheet of paper once more. Thick, dark ink weaved into solid scripted words that almost seem to float, and _writhe,_ on the paper itself.

_**You can't save her.**_

His knuckles whitened as he silently crumpled the paper in his tightening fist.

"There's nothing further that I can do for you."

Any sliver of good mood that _had_ remained was utterly dispersed by those words.

xxxxxx

The drive home was a chillingly silent and solemn affair, thirty minutes of silence between him and his wife. If he were in the joking mood, he would've mentioned how they've gone on a new record; they'd _far_ exceeded ten minutes.

He didn't like this. The tension was making his stomach turn uncomfortably. All the way home, every time he glanced at her as he drove, her gaze was pointed aimlessly out the passenger window, her expression showing how deep in thought she was. He couldn't read her mind, but he could tell what her mind was dwelling on.

Yet, he kept silent in respect to her coping process.

After getting out of the car and walking through the front door, they saw the children playing video games in the living room. Zane, upon noticing them, ran up to Takeshi with a defiant expression upon his young face before proclaiming loudly, "I've had _all day_ to think about how to beat you, pops. I won't lose so easily this time!"

Silently grateful for the diversion from the repressive atmosphere. A competitive glint flashed within the man's eyes. "So what you're saying is I'm _still_ gonna kick your raw red-"

He was suddenly cut off when Atsuma stepped in front of him, kneeled in front of Zane and gently held the boy's shoulders, stealing the boy's attention. Zane looked at her, a bit confused by her interruption.

"Sorry, honey. Your father and I have some important things to discuss first," she said.

Takeshi muttered a confused 'I do?' to which Atsuma gave him a sideways narrowed glance, causing him to tense up. "Ah! Yup, I do! Sorry, son."

Atsuma smiled somberly before softly caressing his face with her hands. Zane blushed in embarrassment from the weird 'warm fuzzy feelings' stirring within from the gentle touching. He wasn't used to being touched like this.

"It makes me smile at how comfortable you've become with us, Zane. It makes us smile whenever we see how happy you are when you spend time with Takeru, Haruko, Inaho, and all the other neighborhood children. It also makes me proud to see how much stronger you're becoming with each passing day." Her brown orbs searched deeper into his grey ones before smirking in good nature. "I just hope you'll use that strength for the right reasons."

Zane snorted at this and folded his arms. "I _know _my reasons are good. Who else is gonna get Takeru, Inaho, and Haruko out of trouble when you guys aren't around?"

Atsuma ruffled his spiky hair. "I'm sure you would, Sweetie. Just make sure that you don't _ever_ lose your compassion." She softly kissed Zane's forehead, causing his face to practically _explode_ with an atomic blush. Takeshi laughed at how the boy tried to play it off.

"Yeah, sure! Compassion-er-whatever, right?" he scoffed, placing his hand on the back of his head bashfully. Though, he did stick his tongue out at Takeshi the _instant_ after Atsuma turned around, just to be spiteful. Takeshi smirked knowingly in return.

Zane grumbled as he walked back to the living room. Atsuma then grabbed Takeshi's hand and hurried the both of them to their master bedroom. When they entered, Atsuma immediately turned one-eighty and planted herself into Takeshi's front, her face buried into his chest.

Surprised and staggered from the amount of force, Takeshi stammered, "O-ow! Give a fella a warning next time you-" He stopped when he felt the pressure of his wife's chest press further into his stomach and her lithe arms wrapping around his sides with a grip comparable to a tight back brace. The way the small, soft pads of her fingers pressed into him, digging into the hard, stone-like muscles of his back like they were just sheets of tin foil.

Then a brief, muffled sob reached his ears that was quickly followed by a shudder that was transferred into him.

Immediately, like a bucket of ice water being dunked on him, he extinguished the growing pleasure with sheer will and wrapped his arms around her and leaned down to get a look at her face. He spoke in a hushed whisper, "_Atsuma…_"

Atsuma peered up at him, giving Takeshi view of the love of his life's beautiful face marred by fresh trails of new falling tears. Another heavy sob. "_Ta-, Takeshi_…"

His body stiffened and his arms clasped her tighter to him. Words that he would have said became stuck in his throat. He knew why she was like this. The news that Dr. Akihito had told them about Atsuma's future was not what they had expected. The reality of their situation was beginning to settle in, and Atsuma was beginning to crack from the pressure.

Lord knows he already had…

* * *

_For several minutes, the office was silent after Akihito's words. Something dark and negative began to worm its way within Takeshi's heart but he tried to shake it away with denial._

_He asked hollowly, "What do you mean by that, Doc?" A short, mirthless chuckle escaped his lips as if he heard a bad joke yet laughed anyway out of habit, "So what? She's fine now, right? She's cured… right?"_

_At that, he saw Akihito tweak his head a bit his way, eyebrow quirked most likely in question at his tone. Though, he still had his back turned to them, he answered, "No. I can't do anything else for her. Her 'disease', 'curse', _whatever _it is, has evolved past what it previously was and it's rendered the medication completely useless." He turned away again. "There's nothing I can do."_

_There was a metallic screech as Takeshi practically threw himself out of his chair. His shoes clacked angrily against the floor as he stepped towards the doctor. "Why can't you even fucking_ _look at us?" he muttered lowly before his palm harshly grasped the shoulder of the Nijou's coat and forcefully turning him around. Now Takeshi could see the sheer _incredulous _expression on the older man's face._

_"What the fuck are you even saying, Akihito?!" His hands then grasped the shellshocked man's collar within his fierce grip. He was too angry to hear his wife call out his name in protest, too focused on the man who was recovering from his shock and was now trying to restrain his own fury. "You're supposed to be The Miracle Worker, aren't you?! Work. Miracles!"_

_He felt Akihito grabbing his wrists within his own tightening grip, his voice deathly calm. "Let go of me, Takeshi."_

_"You're my friend, aren't you?!" Takeshi shook him one good time, tears shimmering along the edges of his vision, "WHY WON'T YOU SAVE MY WIFE?!"_

_"TAKESHI!" His wife's voice finally reached him like a car horn blasting in his ears._

_He froze stock-still and his jaw locked up. His eyes widened slowly, as if coming to the realization of the current situation. His gaze shifted from his long-time friend's face, to his left forearm where his wife was holding on with a weak and trembling grip, before finally landing on his hands and the crinkled cloth within them._

_He released his hold upon the doctor before taking a few steps back and abruptly turning the other way, silent with a hand over his mouth and the other hand on his 's eyes were narrowed as he tried to hold back more of his tears from falling while also trying to contain the despair gripping his heart._

_He felt Atsuma lay a soft, comforting hand on his back. She now spoke to Akihito with a somber and quiet voice, saying, "...How much longer do I have?"_

_There was a long pause. He expected that. Akihito was giving him one last look before he let out a sigh and said, "It's not exact, but with how fast this contamination has grown… I'd say a few more weeks, give or take."_

* * *

Even now, he still couldn't figure out why he had that outburst. Takeshi was always a more jovial person than a wrathful one. Honestly, it felt like a _demon_ had possessed him then.

Right now, though, he was more focused on his grieving wife.

The strongest person he knew, the love of his life, and the woman who would beat him to a pulp whenever he made juvenile mistakes and _still _wait for him to come home at the end of the day, was breaking down right before his very eyes. He spared no words, for he knew not what to say. Instead, he chose to use what he knew best, as the husband that loved her with all his mind, body, and soul. If asked to give his life for her, he wouldn't hesitate.

Tilting her chin upwards with a finger, he bent downwards to her. They both closed their eyes as they relished in their consummated union. He offhandedly made sure to close and lock the door behind him without diverting any of his attention away from Atsuma's lips. Along with the bitter, salty tears, he could almost taste the sadness, the desperate and deep-seated frustration from within her.

She wanted to forget about it all and drown in the sea of lust that threatened to surge forth and consume her mind. Takeshi nearly lost himself in it if not for the constant reminder of the future. As much as he wanted to deny reality, shrug it off as just another nightmare that they'd soon wake from, he couldn't. To deny reality would mean to deny all of the good that came along the way: their only son, Takeru, rescuing Zane from the brink of death and taking him in as their other son, and then there was little Inaho.

They couldn't allow themselves to _forget _all of those blessings.

So he took it all in, tempering it with the fires of determination and love burning within him, amplifying it before sending it back into her. Atsuma broke away with an airy gasp that was riddled with mewling undertones. She sniffled a few more times before roughly wiping a hand over her face to get rid of the old tear streaks and snot that threatened to fall. A second hadn't even passed before she practically _leaped _back onto him with a renewed vigor, though this time, Takeshi had prepared for it.

He caught the frenzied woman easily enough. Instantly, she wrapped both of her legs around his waist as he grabbed and groped fist-fulls of her athletic buttocks and thick thighs through her jeans. If it were anyone else mounting him right now, he would've been a little worried by the amount of pressure squeezing him with those powerful legs. She grabbed his face with both of her hands as she went to ravage his lips with her own, giving off more mewls and brief, airy moans.

_There she is_, Takeshi thought. _There's my lioness._

With her grinding against him aggressively, he walked them both to the bed. Another reason why he loved her so much, regardless of his ogling of other women from time to time, _none _of them could drive him as wild as she did.

xxxxxx

Husband and wife lay under hot bed sheets, satin heavily crumpled and wrinkled from their passionate marital coitus. Naked, tangled bodies reeking of sweat and natural body odor, they basked in the afterglow of one of their core God-given rights. They laid on their sides, modest chest to stone-like abs, face to rippling pectorals. Takeshi wrapped the smaller women up in his arms as they cooled down from the flash-fire of lust into calmer, lingering embers of love. _Though, even embers have a chance at reigniting a flame_.

The smooth, comfortable circles that she rubbed on his hairy chest were both soothing and ticklish to the both of them. After a few more moments of contented silence, Takeshi felt Atsuma shift and shudder against his frame as muffled, womanly giggling reached his ears. They resonated through him like waves of sireen rapture, causing a rumble to escape him as well. The giggling morphed into brief laughter before tapering off.

Her lips grazed his right peck with feathery grace that seemed more pronounced than every other kiss she'd given him. It almost caused him to shudder.

"You know something?" she started.

"What?" he answered.

"There was a moment when I almost didn't allow myself _this_." She gave his chest another affectionate rub. He raised a brow at her when she looked up at his face and answered the question on the tip of his mind, her eyes glancing off at the side coyly. "Something about Akihito saying that 'strenuous activity' accelerates my condition a while back. But you know what? Even if this counts…" She then scooted herself up until her nose was brushing against his own, her next words just a breath below a whisper, "_I don't care_."

Takeshi grunted when he felt her shift both of their weights over until she was sitting on his chest, looking down on him. "I've come to a realization." She leaned her face down just above his own, her freed hair acting as a half-curtain around them. "After I'm gone, all those kids will have is you, Takeshi. Continue to teach them what it means to be _strong_."

_What about _us_? I… I don't know how I'll go on without you._

Takeshi opened his mouth to say those words, but he chose to bite his tongue. She must've known what was going to say anyway because she now wore a saddened smile. "I know it'll be tough when I'm gone, but you need to remember that it's no longer just about us anymore," she caressed his cheek soothingly, "We already knew the day would come eventually, all those meds did was prolong our own hope," she let out a breath, shaky from a weakened sob, "You need to continue preparing them for the future, Takeshi. Please _promise _me."

Slowly, he took the hand on his cheek into his own, massaging it lightly with his fingers before bringing it to his lips to kiss it, "...I promise."

There was a painful _tug_ on his heart when he saw a single tear running down her smiling face. The small splash could barely be felt when it landed upon his lips.

xxxxxx

_The boy's eyes opened, taking in the scenery around him that he had started getting used to for the past week or so, laying in this uncomfortable bed as he had been. The distinct and constant odor of disinfectant always made him feel just queasy enough to be annoyed by it. Today was a good day though. Today he'll be meeting the family that was going to adopt him and he'll _finally _be getting out of this place!_

_The door to his room swung open quietly and he saw that tall blue haired doctor walk in, followed by two other people he hadn't seen before._

_One was a woman of average height with long chestnut hair that she had pulled into a single pony-tail. Her eyes peered into his and she smiled with such benevolence that it filled him with warmth._

_The last person was another man with messy, short orange-ish brown hair that was mostly swept back. He seemed more of an easy-going type of person to Zane. _

_The doctor spoke, "Good to see you up, Zane." He gestured to the two people that walked into the room with him. "Mr. and Mrs. Ooyama will be taking you into their care from today forward."_

_Well, they do _seem _like nice enough people. Only time will tell, he guessed..._

He exhaled as he threw two quick left jabs into the heavy sandbag. They smacked solidly against the sturdy surface as the impacts were successfully absorbed. He then jumped from left to right with such quick-footed swiftness that it would appear to an observer that his body seemed to flicker.

He threw a harsh right cross with another sharp exhale. The bag shook more violently before he switched to another side of the bag, pumping both gloved fists into the lower body with powerful low uppercuts.

Off at the side, he could hear the song switch to another intense, rhythmic symphony. This one was his favorite.

["The day is my enemy~"]

["The day is my enemy~"]

["The night is still young but I'm getting older."]

["I don't want to slow down, I don't wanna be sober."]

["Give us some cobra, till I hangover."]

["Drunk drove the rover, got pulled over."]

["Who's the baddest, who's the masses, Dukes of Hazard, souped to mash it."]

["Not your average, do the damage, givin 'em classics, only classics."]

The boy continued to pound away at the large sandbag from different angles with constant motion, only getting faster and faster as the song progressed. Like a machine, the blood in his veins pumped through him like hot, slick oil.

_Walking through the front door with his new caretakers, Zane was immediately met with two new faces; one boy and one girl. These children looked to be younger than him, but not by much._

_The girl had short, dark purple hair that reminded him of lilacs. She stood a little behind the boy with burnt orange hair, both of them looking up to him with curiosity practically brimming in those innocent eyes._

_So, he greeted them first. "U-umm… Hey, I'm Zane. It's, uh, nice to meet you?" He bowed his head slightly, as if a little unsure he should have. "Please take care of me."_

_Obviously, he needed to improve upon his interactions with kids his age. He never interacted with people much before._

_The orange-haired boy came up to him with confidence and a hand out, a contrast to his approach. "Hiya! I'm Takeru, though Haruko calls me Take-chan." _

_Zane tilted his head confused before he some-what awkwardly took the boy's hand and shook it, "Do you... want me to call you Take-chan too?" He hoped not. It sounded _wrong _coming out of his mouth just then._

_"N-no. Haruko-nee is the only one who calls me that." He scratched the back of his head in a sheepish manner even though he was smiling wide. "Plus, it kinda sounds weird when _you _say it."_

_Fair enough, he could agree to that. Then he looked towards the purple-haired girl as she stepped forward to greet him with a smile. She grabbed his hand in both of hers almost exuberantly._

_"I'm Amaya Haruko! My family lives just down the road. It's nice to meet you!" _

_A new family and a new friend all in one day. Things will certainly be interesting for him from now on…_

Hyper-focused and conditioned, none of his movements seemed wasted; years of training made sure of that. He ducked and weaved through punches and kicks only he could see, occasionally flinching and stuttering when forced to tank non-existent attacks for each mistake.

His heart beat like a drum in his ears, almost with the rhythm of the song.

["The day is my enemy~"]

_Bu-bum, Bu-bum!_

["The night is my fave~"]

_Bu-bum, Bu-bum!_

["The day is my enemy~"]

_Bu-bum, Bu-bum!_

["The night is my fave~"]

_Bu-bum, Bu-bum!_

_Zane stands in front of his seventh-grade classroom for the first time after transferring in. After introducing himself, he hears a few murmurs from other kids: some about how foreign he looks, while others are about the bandages on his body._

A few droplets of sweat splashed off his fist with every thrust, landing onto the wooden floor beneath his bare feet. He could even feel his toes slide across them as he constantly stood on the balls of his feet; it deterred him little. His toes were spread out enough to maintain his grip on the floor as he strafed around the sandbag, peppering it with jabs, crosses, and hooks.

_Faster. I need to be faster. Just keep breathing._ The air around him began to heat up from the constant effort he exerted. His limbs seemed to _rip_ the air as he fired off combination after combination. The rapid sounds of the impacts rung out throughout the small gym like gunshots.

["Hate the day, praise the night, play the game, shake the dice."]

_"I'm also proud to see how much stronger you're becoming with each day. I just hope that you'll use that strength for the right reasons."_

_Zane was jogging along the sidewalk on the way back home when he suddenly came upon a _giant _of a man. He stopped to stare at his large, imposing, _monstrous _figure with wide eyes. The giant only wore a pair of ragged, baggy pants with some torn cloth hanging around the waist like a cape. The amount of muscle on his torso and arms seemed like they could crush rocks just by flexing. Along with the smaller scapes littering his exposed body, there was a large bleeding bruise across his forehead, though some of his messy hair covered a large portion of it up. _

_The man's pure white eyes pierced into him, then through him, leaving the hole within him only to then be filled by unadulterated dread. _

_A wave of raw, dense, almost tangible power washed over him, paralyzing him._

_His legs gave out and he fell onto his backside harshly. His breath was completely out of sync with his heart as he hyperventilated. It felt as if something was grasping his heart and was slowly squeezing before finally, as if the man had seen something, he blinked and quirked a hairless, bloody brow._

_"How… odd," he muttered, his voice so deep and dense that Zane thought it could pulverize concrete. The man walked onwards and as he passed, the minor tremors that were left by the giant's bare foot-steps travelled through Zane's smaller body, making him grit his teeth in an attempt to keep them from chattering. Slowly turning his head, he dared to look behind himself… only to find no one there. Only a speckled trail of blood._

_Finding the strength to stand, he sprinted home, only realizing then that the blood trailed all the way back._

Everything was a blur for him from that point, nothing but past words and boiling emotions.

_"MOM! Mom, please be okay!"_

_"Takeru! Mom?! Takeru, what happened?!"_

Another left jab, quickly followed by a mid-high switch kick. "Hhngh!"

_"I dunno! Mom was fighting some guy and she was losing! I jumped in to help, but then I was knocked out. When I came to, the man was gone and Mom was just laying here! She's not breathing, Zane!_

_"Who did this?!" _

"Hyahh!" _You already knew who'd done it._

_"I...I..!"_

_"Takeru!... What did this guy look like?"_

_Idiot! Moron! _Knee thrust, puncturing right cross. _Why did you even ask?!_

_"I-I think he was some kind of giant!"_

A spike of old, familiar rage surged through him like a flash fire, clouding his mind in smoke and ash. The speed and power of his flurries intensified, more heat and sweat building on his skin.

The heavy sandbag began to form tears and holes from the onslaught, the chain holding it to the ceiling rattling erratically, reeling from the whirlwind of blows.

He could hear his heartbeat pounding in his ears like an angry stampede of heavy animals.

["The day is my enemy~"]

_**BU-BUM**__, __**BU-BUM**__!_

["The night is my fave~"]

_**BU-BUM**__, __**BU-BUM**__!_

["The day is my enemy~"]

_**BU-BUM**__, __**BU-BUM**__!_

["The night is my fave~"]

_**BU-BUM**__, __**BU-BUM**__!_

_"Hey, look, it's that Ooyama kid."_

_"Wasn't it on the news a few weeks ago that Mrs. Ooyama was murdered by some stranger that challenged their dojo?"_

_"Who would do such a thing?! Mrs. Ooyama was such a nice person."_

_"Yeah. They said that the guy got away and left Mister Ooyama, Zane, and Takeru relatively unharmed. Mister Ooyama was the one who called the ambulance after the guy left."_

_"Wow… it's so sad…"_

_"Apparently, not everyone felt that way. I heard that during her funeral, while everyone else was mourning, Zane didn't even seem fazed. No expression at all. Makes you think if he ever _cared_."_

His anger finally boiled over, spiking violently.

_"TAKE THAT BACK!" he yelled._

_"Aww! What's wrong, Mummy boy? You mad 'cause it's the truth? Everyone here knows that you're some abandoned street rat that took advantage of the Ooyama's kindness."_

_"Yeah! For all we know, you and the murderer could've been in cahoots with each other!"_

_"SHUT UP!" A fire burned within his knuckles as he reeled his right fist back and threw it with all of the fury and rage boiling in his veins-_

"RRNNGHH!" With a thunderous S_MASH! _the heavy sandbag finally buckled. The chain holding it aloft gave a final _CLANG!_ as the chain link snapped from its anchoring point. The explosive force from the punch carried the two hundred and fifty pound bag through the air and into the adjacent wall of the gym, ten meters away. The impact was strong enough to crater the wall and cause sand to _burst_ from the multiple tears on the bag.

Zane stayed in his position, fist still extended, for a few more moments. He released the grip on the wrathful haze suffocating his mind and stood up straight, arms bent at his sides and released a low, extended exhale.

Like the mouth of an active volcano, a thick cloud of steam poured out of his pursed lips as he started decompressing. The sweat drops that fell from him were big and numerous, creating decently large puddles on the floor beneath his naked feet. He looked onwards, ignoring everything else around him, as he let the memories of the past fade back into the recesses of his psyche. Though, one last voice still tickled the surface before being suppressed.

_"Just make sure that you don't ever lose your compassion..."_

_I know what my reasons are, I'm not a bad person._ _I'm not._ Heat continued to waft off him as he calmed the raging fire within himself. He looked at his bandaged hands and slowly clenched them into tight fists once again, the bones in his knuckles popping loudly as each finger curled. He then turned his hands over to inspect their backs, noting the light splotches of blood soaking the cloth around his fingers.

_The bones, joints, and ligaments feel fine, though a little numb. Damage must be mostly superficial. _A crude smirk formed on his lips. Finally, some real progress! After five long years of _agonizing,_ self-destructive conditioning, his body had now begun to show signs of adjustment to his power. His body felt sturdier, more able to take the negative feedback if he were to make any mistakes.

It felt _good_.

_Now, to put myself up against actual opponents. _He walked over to the bench where his phone sat next to his duffle bag, the device being hooked into a set of small portable speakers with an auxiliary cord. He let the current song play on for a few more seconds...

_["Hate the day, praise the night, play the game, shake the dice.~"]_

Before cutting it off, the rest of the lyrics playing off in his mind from memory before fading away. After unplugging the phone, he checked to see if he received any new messages. Upon finding none, he went to store it away when it suddenly vibrated with a new notification. Clicking on the notification and opening up the message, he looked at the contents.

_Good news, Son! I was able to get you transfered into that school I told you about. I've been working as an instructor here for a while now and I'm telling you, __**this**_ _place will allow your true potential to flourish! -Dad_

He scrolled down a bit more, revealing a bit more of the message. A small vein under his right eyebrow twitched upon viewing.

_Also, there's a TON of _cute _girls and _sexy _female instructors here! I know that I promised to tone it down, but _you _my boy, you have so many opportunities! In fact, I've actually had my eye on a couple of girls that I think you'll_-

He closed the message out, eyebrow twitching frantically. _Freakin' pervert. But thanks anyway, Pops. _So he was going to this school. Tenbi Academy, was it? A school that only accepted a select group of people called "Ability users" so that they can learn how to control their "phantasmal powers".

_Ability users. People like me, Pops, Inaho, Haruko…_

_Mom…_

An image of that bloody-faced giant flashed across his vision like a swung blade of fire and he clenched his other hand on impulse.

_And __**him**__._

Quickly gathering his belongings, he threw a towel around his neck and slew the duffle bag around his shoulder. He started his short trek to the shower room when he almost walked right into an older man that wore a sage green jumpsuit and cap that had walked through the gym doors. The shorter elderly man looked to be in his late sixties yet he still seemed a little moxxie in him.

Swiftly side-stepping out of the janitor's way, Zane addressed him casually. "Ah, uh, Mr. Yoshida." The elder turned to him as he continued. "I may have gone a _tad_ overboard this time. Sorry for the... mess. Again." Zane bowed his head a bit in penance.

Yoshida smiled gently. "Oh don't you worry, my boy." He gave the teen a friendly, solid smack to the shoulder. "I've known you long enough. It won't be anything out of the norm, I'm sure."

Zane bumped the back of his fist against the elderly man's chest. "I leave you to it then, old man. I'm going to be heading out of town to attend highschool elsewhere, so, uh, you won't have to clean up after me anymore."

"Is that so? Well," Mr. Yoshida tapped his chin with a finger, "I guess this old man will have to find something else to do to pass the time during shifts. This job can be _so boring_ at times."

The young fighter smiled and chuckled a little at the joke.

"Just make sure to keep up with your academics. Remember," he said as he tapped Zane's chest with his bony knuckles, "A strong body-" He pointed a finger at his forehead. "-is only as good as a healthy mind. And please, try to stay out of trouble."

The old man turned away, walking into the gym with one last quip tossed over his shoulder towards the young man. "Or don't," he shrugged as he chuckled. "Who am I to keep the youth from learning from their mistakes?"

"Mm," Zane mulled over those words briefly before walking off towards the portion of the facility that housed the showers.

_It won't matter how much trouble I'll probably get into, I'll deal with it easily enough. All that matters to me is getting stronger._ Strong enough to beat anyone, to beat _**him**_. Just like this gym, Tenbi will become his training ground. A garish grin split his lips and anticipation bubbled within his gut. The song from earlier played through his mind again.

He sang along with it.

"The day is my enemy~. The night is my fav~."

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

**AN: Alright! With that, we have finally gotten past the 'child arc' of this story. Now we'll be moving into the 'prequel arc' where Zane gets into Tenbi during the time where Minori and co. are in their final year there.**

**Depending on how long I make each of those chapters, I hope to extend that for (at least) four chapters, at most. There may be an extra one just as a way to transition out of the epilogue and into the current canon timeline, where Takeru goes to Tenbi.**

**As always, I like to thank my friends/writing tutors for double checking after me when I make messes. **

**Soleneus**

**Ikrani**

**NorthSouthGorem**

**Dairegh**

**Have any words to say before I close this out, anyone?**

**Sol: You're a goddamn weeb Austin.**

**Ikrani: It is too late at night for me to say anything meaningful, except, "Who's more the weeb: the weeb, or the weeb who beta reads for him?"**

**Check 'em out and tell them hi for me. Give 'em some love! Though, maybe not Sol. He can be a dingus at times. Still love the guy, though.**

**Until next time!**


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